Chapter 2 - THREE SIGNATURES BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Three weeks earlier, Clara had signed three documents.
Her fiancé, Marcus Sterling, brought them to her desk.
“Year-end tax releases,” he explained.
Clara glanced at the headings.
“Why do you need these?”
Marcus smiled.
“Because we're finally putting the house into our joint trust.”
Clara hesitated.
The house had belonged to her mother.
A small bungalow in Lincoln Square.
Cedar shingles.
Oak floors.
A kitchen where her mother used to bake vanilla-orange Christmas cake.
Clara had spent six years paying off the mortgage.
Now the final payment was approaching.
Marcus kissed her forehead.
“Trust me.”
She signed.
Three weeks later, she discovered what those signatures really meant.
The first document authorized a transfer of her property.
The second created a trust controlled by Marcus.
And the third gave him authority to sell the house without her further approval.
Clara stared at the copies.
Her hands began shaking.
May you like
She had spent seventy-two months saving her mother's home.
And the man she planned to marry had arranged to take it away.
