Chapter 2
Three weeks after Trevor's arrest, my phone rang.
It was Detective Mason.
"Ms. Morales, we need you to come downtown."
My stomach tightened.
"Did something happen?"
"We found something during the forensic review of the mortgage documents."
When I arrived, the detective slid a thick folder across the table.
"The forged signature wasn't Trevor's first attempt."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
He opened the file.
Inside were copies of credit applications, personal loans, and insurance forms.
Every one of them carried my name.
Or at least...
A version of it.
Someone had practiced forging my signature for months.
The detective pointed to a timeline.
"These applications go back almost eighteen months."
I felt sick.
"Eighteen months?"
He nodded.
"Most were rejected because the signatures didn't match perfectly."
My voice barely came out.
"Who submitted them?"
The detective looked directly at me.
"They all originated from the IP address at your parents' house."
That evening I drove there for the first time since the assault.
My father answered the door.
He looked older.
Smaller.
He stepped aside without speaking.
Mom sat in the living room crying.
Nadia stared at the floor.
Trevor, out on bail, wasn't allowed within five hundred feet of me.
I placed the investigation file on the coffee table.
"Who else signed my name?"
Nobody answered.
I looked at my father.
"You installed the security cameras."
He nodded.
"You knew what Trevor was doing?"
His shoulders slumped.
"I knew... he asked your mother for old documents with your signature."
I stared at him.
"And you said nothing?"
"I thought it was for Christmas paperwork."
Mom suddenly snapped.
"Stop blaming your father!"
I turned toward her.
"I'm blaming everyone."
Then Nadia finally broke.
"It wasn't Trevor's idea."
The room froze.
Mom whispered,
"Nadia..."
She kept crying.
"It was Mom."
Every eye turned toward Carol.
Mom shook her head violently.
"She's lying!"
Nadia wiped away tears.
"The first time Trevor refused."
"He said it was too risky."
"So Mom told him..."
Her voice cracked.
"'Elena owes this family everything.'"
Silence swallowed the room.
For the first time in my life...
My father looked at my mother with something worse than anger.
Disgust.
Two days later, detectives returned with another warrant.
This time...
For my mother.
She wasn't charged with assault.
She was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
As officers escorted her outside, neighbors watched from their porches.
She looked back at me.
"I did everything for this family."
I answered quietly.
"No."
"You did everything to control it."
The patrol car door closed.
May you like
And for the first time...
My father cried.
