Chapter 4 - TERESA’S VERSIONConnor confronted his mother at seven the next morning.
Amy remained upstairs with Frederick.
Teresa was already dressed.
Coffee.
Pearls.
Perfect hair.
As if the previous afternoon had been nothing more than a difficult family dinner.
Connor placed the rejected deed on the breakfast table.
Teresa glanced at it.
Then took a sip of coffee.
“What is that?”
“Stop.”
She looked up.
“I’m not doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Pretending.”
Connor sat opposite her.
“Six weeks ago, somebody attempted to transfer twenty percent of my house to Julian’s LLC using my signature and Amy’s.”
Teresa’s expression remained remarkably calm.
“Did they?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds serious.”
Connor stared at her.
She was good.
He had spent forty years believing he knew his mother’s expressions.
Now he wondered how many had always been performances.
“You took Amy to the notary.”
Teresa set down her cup.
“For Frederick’s education paperwork.”
“The same notary appears on the deed.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves coincidence has become very busy.”
Her mouth tightened.
Connor slid another page across.
“Funding closes Monday.”
Teresa did not look down.
“What are you expecting me to say?”
“The truth.”
“You already decided what the truth is.”
“No. I decided the signatures aren’t ours.”
“That does not mean Julian forged them.”
“Who said Julian?”
Teresa froze.
Barely.
Enough.
Connor leaned back.
“I didn’t say Julian forged anything.”
“You are accusing him of everything else.”
“Because he had the folder.”
“He was helping me.”
“With what?”
Teresa looked toward the windows.
Connor waited.
Finally:
“Your brother is in financial trouble.”
There it was.
“How much trouble?”
“His company had a difficult year.”
“How difficult?”
“He needs liquidity.”
“Four and a half million?”
“He wouldn’t necessarily draw all of it.”
Connor almost laughed.
“You knew about the loan.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my house was collateral.”
Teresa sighed.
“Connor, you have an eleven-million-dollar property sitting completely unleveraged.”
“It’s my home.”
“It is an asset.”
“It is where my wife and child live.”
“No one is taking it.”
“You tried to transfer twenty percent.”
“It would have remained within the family.”
Connor stared.
Teresa said it as if that should settle everything.
“My name and Amy’s were forged.”
“You would have signed if Julian asked properly.”
“No.”
“You’ve helped him before.”
“With cash I chose to lend.”
“This is no different.”
“It is my house.”
Teresa’s face sharpened.
“You have so much and act as though every request is a personal invasion.”
Connor stood.
“This wasn’t a request.”
She remained seated.
“He was going to repay it.”
“So you forged documents?”
“I did not forge anything.”
“Did you know?”
Teresa looked away.
Connor felt the answer.
“How long?”
Silence.
“How long have you known?”
“Connor…”
“How long?”
“Since June.”
Three months.
Connor stepped backward.
His mother had sat at his dining table.
Held his baby.
Stayed overnight.
Complimented renovations.
All while knowing someone was trying to use his home as collateral.
“Why?”
“Because Julian asked me not to involve you until the structure was ready.”
Connor laughed quietly.
“The structure.”
“You always say no too quickly when it comes to him.”
“Maybe because he keeps asking me to rescue him.”
“He is your brother.”
“And Amy is my wife.”
Teresa’s expression hardened.
“This has nothing to do with Amy.”
“It has her forged signature on it.”
“She would have followed your decision.”
Connor stared.
Teresa did not even hear herself.
Amy’s ownership.
Amy’s signature.
Amy’s decision.
None of it existed independently in Teresa’s mind.
“She owns half the house.”
“Because you put her on title.”
Connor’s face changed.
Teresa realized too late.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“No.”
Connor leaned across the table.
“Say it.”
Teresa stood.
“I mean you bought the house.”
“We bought the house.”
“With money from your company.”
“During our marriage.”
Teresa’s jaw tightened.
“Exactly.”
Connor stared.
There it was.
The contempt beneath everything.
Amy was not family in Teresa’s mind.
She was someone who had married into Connor’s success.
Anything Amy legally owned was something Connor had mistakenly given her.
“Is that why you treat her like staff?”
Teresa rolled her eyes.
“She told you that?”
“I saw it.”
“You saw one afternoon.”
“I heard you say she’s only good for babies and dishes.”
Teresa shrugged.
“I was frustrated.”
“You made her wash dishes holding a sick child.”
“She refused help.”
Connor almost shouted.
He stopped.
“How?”
“What?”
“How do you say things like that so easily?”
Teresa stared.
“You think because you pay for a mansion and marry a woman from nowhere, suddenly everyone must pretend she built your life with you?”
Connor’s anger vanished.
Replaced by disbelief.
“A woman from nowhere?”
Teresa walked away.
He followed.
“Amy had a career before Frederick.”
“She planned events.”
“She ran a hospitality company.”
“She coordinated weddings.”
“She built it.”
“She married you.”
Connor stopped.
He finally understood.
This was not just about control.
Teresa resented Amy’s existence because Amy had become Connor’s primary family.
His wife.
His son.
His house.
Everything Teresa once assumed would remain emotionally hers.
“Get out.”
Teresa turned.
“What?”
“Leave.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“Pack.”
“You’re throwing your mother out because your wife is emotional?”
“No.”
Connor walked closer.
“I’m asking you to leave because you admitted you knew my brother was using forged paperwork against my house and you helped hide it.”
Teresa’s face went pale.
“You cannot prove that.”
Connor stared.
Not:
I didn’t do it.
You cannot prove it.
He heard the distinction.
His mother heard it too.
Connor took out his phone.
“I’m calling Rebecca.”
“For what?”
“To freeze any transaction connected to this property.”
Teresa’s composure finally cracked.
“You cannot do that today.”
Connor stopped.
“Why not?”
“Because…”
She went silent.
Connor stepped closer.
“Why can’t I stop the loan?”
May you like
Teresa looked genuinely frightened.
And Connor suddenly realized Julian’s failing business might not be the only thing attached to that money.
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