Chapter 16 - The Document Lorraine Wanted.
The missing document was eventually found somewhere Lorraine never expected.
My grandmother had filed a certified copy with her former attorney.
Rebecca knew exactly what to request.
The document was an amendment to the protective trust.
Its language was complicated.
Its purpose was not.
If a spouse attempted fraud, coercion, unauthorized refinancing, or transfer involving property funded by the trust, the spouse’s potential beneficial claim could be eliminated.
Andrew had signed acknowledgment of the trust four years earlier when we executed the postnuptial agreement.
He knew.
Lorraine apparently knew too.
That was why she had broken into the house.
She wanted to destroy my copy and convince Andrew that no other copy existed.
But my grandmother had prepared for people like them.
Thomas reviewed everything.
“In a divorce, Andrew can argue about certain marital contributions.”
“How much?”
“Maybe some.”
He smiled slightly.
“But the house itself is far better protected than he ever imagined.”
For months, Lorraine had treated me like a guest.
Now she was about to discover she had never had any legal power over the property at all.
Andrew remained in custody pending further proceedings.
His attorney immediately began negotiating.
The criminal allegations were extensive.
Financial fraud.
Forgery.
Identity theft related conduct.
Theft from his employer.
Potential insurance fraud.
And the drugging investigation.
Lorraine faced separate charges connected to the assault, unlawful entry, and possible involvement in drugging me.
She still insisted she was the victim.
Her attorney contacted Thomas with an offer.
Lorraine would surrender any claim connected to Parker-Morgan Property Holdings if I dropped my complaint about the cast-iron pot.
I refused.
Then she offered testimony against Andrew.
I refused to negotiate directly.
“They are turning on each other.”
Thomas nodded.
“That tends to happen when loyalty stops being useful.”
The commercial building was placed into receivership.
The lender sought recovery.
Andrew’s employer sought restitution.
Natalie’s clinic withdrew from the lease.
Every piece of the future Andrew had constructed began collapsing.
Then something unexpected happened.
The receiver discovered that the commercial building contained substantial equity.
Andrew had purchased it below market value from a distressed owner.
After debts were resolved, there might be money remaining.
Lorraine immediately claimed half.
Federal investigators disagreed.
Because some purchase funds were connected to stolen company money and fraudulent guarantees, ownership was heavily disputed.
Andrew’s magnificent plan to become wealthy had created nothing except a courtroom full of people demanding repayment.
Meanwhile, I returned to work.
My first shift back was difficult.
Every ambulance siren reminded me how close I had come to ignoring danger in my own home.
A patient asked whether I was married.
For the first time, I said no without explaining.
Technically, the divorce was not final.
Emotionally, my marriage had ended the morning that pot struck the headboard.
Three months passed.
Then six.
Andrew eventually accepted responsibility for several financial offenses as part of a plea agreement.
The investigation into the drugging continued separately.
Lorraine continued fighting everything.
She insisted the video lacked context.
Apparently there was some imaginary context in which helping your son crush medication into his wife’s wine was reasonable.
Then Thomas called.
“We have the house hearing next Thursday.”
My heart tightened.
“What can Andrew still claim?”
“Very little.”
“But?”
Thomas paused.
“There’s a problem.”
Of course there was.
“Andrew’s attorney says he has evidence that part of your grandmother’s inheritance legally became marital property.”
I sat down.
“What evidence?”
“A letter supposedly signed by your grandmother.”
“What letter?”
“He says she intended the house to belong equally to both of you.”
My chest tightened.
“Is it real?”
Thomas answered carefully.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Then he added something worse.
“The witness who claims to have watched her sign it is Lorraine.”
