Chapter 5 - THE LAND HE THOUGHT HE OWNED
Caden's shell company tried exercising the fraudulent purchase option.
He made one mistake.
The land had recently increased enormously in value.
A technology company planned a data center nearby.
Developers were buying property throughout the area.
Mom's forty-seven acres, once worth under a million dollars, now had offers approaching twelve million.
Suddenly the forged option made sense.
Caden wasn't trying to steal sentimental farmland.
He knew what was coming.
How?
My Guadalajara contract.
The project I had just completed involved infrastructure development tied indirectly to the same regional expansion.
Caden had accessed confidential documents.
My husband had been reading my files.
The realization made my skin crawl.
We traced the access to my home office computer.
Late nights.
Times when I slept.
Times when I traveled.
Caden had been photographing confidential projections and feeding them to Preston.
Corporate espionage.
Potential securities issues.
Fraud.
The divorce had become the smallest problem he faced.
Hannah contacted our corporate counsel.
Then federal investigators became involved because some transactions crossed state lines.
I hated it.
Not because I wanted to protect Caden.
Because Donovan would someday understand his father had done these things.
There is no clean victory when the person destroying himself is your child's parent.
Mom surprised me.
"Don't protect Caden from consequences."
"I'm not."
"You're thinking about Donovan."
"Yes."
She took my hand.
"Protect Donovan from hatred. Not truth."
I looked at her.
She smiled sadly.
"Those are different."
The fraudulent land option was frozen.
A handwriting expert confirmed Mom's signature was likely forged.
Then investigators discovered something unexpected.
Bonnie's signature was real.
She hadn't merely known.
She participated.
When confronted through attorneys, Bonnie claimed she believed Alexis had agreed.
Then prosecutors showed her text messages.
Caden:
Once the old woman's property closes, Taylor won't be able to stop us.
Bonnie:
Good. Alexis always acts like her daughter is better than us.
Caden:
Taylor won't know until development starts.
Bonnie:
By then we'll have the money.
My mother read those messages.
She didn't cry.
That was worse.
"I cooked for her."
I hugged her.
"I know."
"I washed her clothes."
"I know."
"Why did she hate me?"
I wished I had a satisfying answer.
"Because your existence reminded her that everything she enjoyed came from someone she looked down on."
Mom thought about that.
Then:
"That's a miserable way to live."
Yes.
It was.
Caden called that evening from an unknown number.
I answered because Hannah had instructed me to record and document direct contact.
"Taylor."
"What?"
"We can stop this."
"You can speak through counsel."
"Please."
First please in six years.
"I made mistakes."
"Mistakes?"
"I got ambitious."
"You forged signatures."
"Preston handled paperwork."
"You're blaming Preston?"
"I'm explaining."
"You stole confidential files."
"I was building something for Donovan!"
There it was.
The universal excuse.
Family.
"You were building it for yourself."
Silence.
Then he said:
"If you keep pushing this, Mom could go to prison."
"Your mother signed the documents."
"She's sixty-two."
"That's old enough to know forgery is wrong."
"Taylor, she raised me."
"And Alexis raised me."
Silence.
I continued:
"You watched my mother work on damaged knees while yours ate grapes."
"Don't bring that up again."
"I will bring it up every time you pretend this is about family."
He hung up.
I looked toward the kitchen.
Mom was sitting at the island while Donovan helped her make cookies.
She was seated.
He stood on a chair beside her.
No one was strapped to anyone's back.
No one was being ordered.
May you like
The mansion felt less like a secret now.
It felt like home.
