Chapter 26 - The Forty Thousand
The investment account still existed.
That surprised everyone.
Lorraine had withdrawn money over the years, but records showed approximately twenty-three thousand dollars remained.
Tasha sat across from Alicia.
“So she still has money from the loan?”
“Yes.”
“Can that be recovered?”
“Potentially.”
“Do I want it?”
Alicia paused.
“That is not a legal question.”
“No.”
“It is your decision.”
Tasha rubbed her hands together.
“My entire family says Mom sacrificed everything.”
“She may have.”
“And she still kept forty thousand.”
“Yes.”
“How do people hold both?”
Alicia leaned back.
“People are rarely pure categories.”
Tasha smiled sadly.
“You sound like a therapist.”
“I charge more.”
That made Tasha laugh.
Then Alicia became serious.
“The case is strong.”
“How strong?”
“Stronger than when we started.”
“But not guaranteed.”
“Never.”
The key evidentiary hearing took place three weeks later.
Denise testified.
Raymond testified.
Samuel testified.
The rehabilitation therapist testified by video.
Each piece alone could be explained.
Together, they formed structure.
Lillian had been in therapy at the exact time the notarization supposedly occurred.
Curtis’s commission had expired.
His notarial block had been digitally copied.
Lorraine had sought signature examples.
Denise had inserted the block.
Lorraine had mailed the completed deed.
Then she used it to obtain a loan.
Then she produced forged acknowledgments when the lender questioned Tasha’s occupancy.
Lorraine’s attorney attacked everyone.
Denise had credibility problems.
Samuel had licensing issues.
Raymond had benefited financially.
Tasha had once been financially unstable.
Marcus had secretly attempted to buy the house.
Nothing was clean.
That was exactly what made the case believable.
Real families rarely produced perfect witnesses.
Lorraine took the stand last.
Her attorney asked why she had done any of it.
Lorraine looked at Tasha for the first time all day.
“Because my mother was going to hand a quarter-million-dollar asset to someone who could barely keep five hundred dollars in savings.”
Tasha did not move.
“Did you love your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to steal from her?”
“No.”
“Did you believe you were protecting the property?”
“Yes.”
Then Alicia stood.
“Mrs. Brooks, who owns protection?”
Lorraine frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“If I protect your handbag from rain, does it become mine?”
Objection.
Overruled.
Lorraine’s face tightened.
“No.”
“If you pay your adult daughter’s electric bill, does her house become yours?”
“No.”
“If you believe she makes poor decisions, are you legally entitled to replace those decisions with your own?”
Lorraine looked toward Tasha.
“I was her mother.”
“That was not my question.”
Silence.
“No.”
Alicia placed the will on the screen.
“Lillian Brooks left the home to Tasha.”
“Yes.”
“And wrote that you were not to own or control it.”
“That letter was emotional.”
“It was clear.”
“She was angry with me.”
“Was she competent when she wrote it?”
“Yes.”
Alicia paused.
“Interesting.”
Lorraine’s attorney objected to tone.
The judge sustained.
Alicia continued.
“Did your mother ever sign this deed in your presence?”
Lorraine hesitated.
Tasha stopped breathing.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The day before the date written.”
The courtroom shifted.
Alicia looked at the document.
“Then why is the notarization dated the following day?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because the notary was not present when she signed?”
“I don’t know.”
“You previously testified Curtis witnessed the signing.”
Lorraine stared.
“I may have misspoken.”
Alicia let silence work.
Then:
“Did Curtis Vale ever stand in the same room as your mother when she signed this document?”
Lorraine’s eyes moved toward her attorney.
“You must answer,” the judge said.
Lorraine swallowed.
“No.”
Tasha’s fingers tightened around the bench.
Alicia continued.
“Did you know the notarial block was copied?”
“I knew Denise was fixing formatting.”
“Fixing formatting.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Denise to use Lillian’s old signature?”
“I gave her a reference.”
“For what?”
“To make sure the name was written correctly.”
“Denise testified you gave her the sample because Lillian had not signed the deed.”
“She lied.”
“Raymond testified Lillian refused to sign.”
“He misunderstood.”
“Samuel testified you later said Lillian never signed.”
“I was joking.”
Alicia nodded slowly.
“Everybody misunderstood.”
Lorraine stared.
“Everybody except you.”
Lorraine’s composure finally cracked.
“I was the one who kept that family alive!”
Her voice echoed through the courtroom.
The judge watched.
Lorraine continued.
“My mother sat there judging me while I paid everybody’s bills. Tasha called me every time something broke. Raymond begged me. Rochelle begged me. Everybody begged me.”
Her eyes filled.
“And then they wanted to pretend that house belonged to one person?”
Tasha felt tears rise.
There it was.
The belief underneath everything.
Need had become ownership.
Alicia spoke softly.
“So you believed the house belonged to the family.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed you represented the family.”
Lorraine went silent.
Alicia asked the final question.
“Which meant, in your mind, the house belonged to you.”
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Lorraine looked at Tasha.
For the first time, she had no answer.
