Chapter 25 - Jayden’s Choice
Maya chose a denim jacket.
Eli chose a lunchbox shaped like a rocket.
The total came to $103.48.
Jayden looked surprised.
“That’s it?”
Tasha smiled.
“You expected luxury?”
“I thought kid stuff was expensive.”
“It is when children discover brands.”
Maya rolled her eyes.
Jayden still had more than eighty dollars left from his chosen amount.
“What happens to the rest?”
Tasha looked at him.
“You decide.”
He thought.
“Save it.”
Marcus, standing beside the register, smiled.
“Excellent answer.”
Tasha gave him a look.
“What?”
“You sounded like a financial podcast.”
“I accept that.”
Outside the store, Maya hugged Jayden.
He immediately looked embarrassed.
“Stop.”
“Thank you.”
“Stop.”
Eli joined.
Jayden groaned.
Marcus watched.
Something inside him shifted.
For years he had treated boundaries as walls.
His responsibility.
Not his responsibility.
His son.
Not his children.
Some boundaries mattered.
He was not Maya and Eli’s father.
He did not need to pretend otherwise.
But family was not always defined by financial obligation.
Sometimes it was defined by the person his son became when allowed to care voluntarily.
Tasha watched Marcus watching.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You look emotional.”
“I’m Black. We contain depth.”
She laughed.
“You’re ridiculous.”
For a moment they were just two people who had once loved each other enough to create a child.
That history had scars.
It also had muscle memory.
Then Alicia called.
Deposition preparation.
Reality returned.
Lorraine would be questioned under oath the following week.
So would Tasha.
So would Marcus.
Alicia prepared them separately.
When Tasha’s turn came, the questions were brutal.
“Were you financially irresponsible at age twenty-nine?”
“Yes.”
“Did Lorraine give you money?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accept funds ultimately traceable to the home-equity line?”
“Without knowing the source, yes.”
“Did Lorraine pay bills for you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you give Lorraine access to your bank account?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever tell her you were grateful she handled things?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever say, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you’?”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Alicia leaned forward.
“Does any of that mean you gave her your house?”
“No.”
“Again.”
“No.”
“Louder.”
“No.”
That was the case.
Not whether Lorraine helped.
Not whether Tasha struggled.
Not whether a daughter was grateful to her mother.
Ownership did not transfer through gratitude.
The day of Lorraine’s deposition, Tasha did not attend.
Alicia advised against it.
Marcus waited with her at home.
“What do you think she’s saying?”
“The truth, hopefully.”
Tasha laughed.
“You’re optimistic.”
“No. I’m tired.”
Hours passed.
Then Alicia called.
“She admitted the house was intended for you under the will.”
Tasha stood.
“What?”
“She says Lillian later changed her mind.”
“Did she explain why?”
“She claims Lillian feared your creditors.”
“I barely had any.”
“She claims concern about Damon.”
“That makes no legal sense.”
“I know.”
“What about Curtis?”
Alicia paused.
“She testified that Curtis notarized the deed at the rehabilitation center.”
“But he wasn’t on the visitor log.”
“She says he came with Raymond.”
“Raymond testified Curtis wasn’t there.”
“Yes.”
Tasha paced.
“What about the copied notary block?”
“She denied knowledge.”
“Denise?”
“She says Denise misunderstood instructions.”
“Of course.”
Alicia continued.
“Then we showed her the email.”
Tasha stopped.
Use the signature from the hospital power-of-attorney page. Mama’s hand was shaky anyway. Nobody will question it after she’s gone.
“What did Mom say?”
“She claimed she was referring to preparing a draft.”
“And ‘nobody will question it’?”
“She said she meant nobody would question the appearance of the signature sample.”
Marcus stared at the phone.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“No,” Alicia agreed.
“Anything else?”
Alicia was quiet.
Then:
“Yes.”
Tasha gripped the counter.
“Your mother admitted she mailed the deed for recording.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“But?”
“But she says she believed Lillian had authorized the document.”
“How?”
“She claims Lillian signed a separate copy that was lost.”
Marcus frowned.
“So now there’s a mystery original?”
“Yes.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Extremely.”
Tasha sat.
Alicia continued.
“The biggest development came at the end.”
“What?”
“Lorraine’s attorney asked whether she had personally benefited from the home-equity proceeds.”
Tasha waited.
“She said no.”
“But we know she bought jewelry.”
“That is not the issue.”
“What is?”
Alicia’s voice lowered.
“Bank records show forty thousand dollars went into an investment account controlled solely by Lorraine.”
Tasha stopped breathing.
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened two days after the loan funded.”
Marcus stared.
“What investment account?”
“We’re tracing it.”
Tasha thought about every relative Lorraine had supposedly helped.
Twenty-two thousand for Tasha.
Thirty thousand for Raymond.
Eight for Rochelle.
Medical expenses.
Repairs.
The math had never fully worked.
Now she knew why.
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Lorraine had not merely borrowed against the house to save everybody.
She had paid herself.
