Chapter 2 - The Manila Folder"You think you own this land, but your name is built on a $750,000 lie."
I walked back to my car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a heavy manila folder from beneath the picnic blanket. Benjamin looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes. "Mommy, are we going home?"
"Not yet, sweetheart," I said gently, stroking his hair. "Get back in the car with your sister for a few minutes. Turn on the air conditioning. Mommy has to clear up a small misunderstanding."
I shut the car doors, locked them to protect my children from the poisonous environment, and walked straight back toward the patio. My parents and Kelsey were already turning back toward their guests, chuckling softly as if they had successfully swept away an inconvenient pest.
"Tessa, I thought we told you to leave," my mother sighed, turning around with her arms crossed.
"I'm leaving," I said, standing right in front of the outdoor dining table where three of Derek’s prospective law partners were sitting, holding wine glasses. "But since Derek’s entire career depends on transparency and integrity, I think his future partners should hear this."
Derek’s face flushed bright red. He immediately stepped away from the barbecue grill, his polished loafers clicking against the flagstone. "Tessa, shut your mouth. Don't do this here."
"Do what, Derek?" I snapped, pulling out the first document from the folder and slapping it onto the glass table, right next to a platter of grilled appetizers. "Do you mean discussing the $750,000 fraudulent loan that was taken out in my name three years ago?"
The music seemed to stop instantly. A heavy silence fell over the patio.
My father’s hand began to tremble slightly, sloshing his scotch over the rim of his glass. "Tessa, what absurd nonsense are you blabbering about?"
"It’s not nonsense, Dad," I said, holding up a notarized credit application. "Three years ago, someone forged my signature, used my clean credit score, and listed Cedar Grove Farm as collateral to secure a three-quarter-of-a-million-dollar hard-money business loan. The money was wired directly into an offshore shell account named L&K Holdings."
Kelsey’s face turned ghastly pale, all the color draining from her cheeks. "Tessa, stop it! You’re insane! Security, someone call security!"
"There is no security here, Kelsey," I said, stepping closer to her. "This loan has been in default for six months. Bank notices have been sent to my apartment because the lenders finally tracked down my real address. The interest alone is accumulating at $8,000 a month. And guess whose names are listed as the managing directors of L&K Holdings?"
I looked directly at Derek and Kelsey.
"Lawson & Kelsey," I stated, my voice ringing clear across the backyard. "You took out a massive loan in my name to fund Derek’s failed venture capital investments and buy your million-dollar condo in downtown Richmond. You stole my identity, ruined my credit, and let me pay the taxes on this property while you sucked it dry!"
"That's a lie! She's lying! She's mentally unstable!" Derek yelled, his voice cracking as he looked nervously at his senior partners, whose faces had turned completely stoic.
"Is it a lie, Derek?" I asked, pulling out the signature verification sheet certified by a forensic handwriting expert. "Because the police detective I spoke to yesterday in Richmond doesn't think it's a lie. In fact, he found it very interesting that the IP address used to submit the digital loan application originated from your home address."
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My mother grabbed my father’s arm, her eyes wide with terror. "Harold... Harold, what is she talking about?"
Father didn't answer her. He was staring at me not with anger, but with a terrifying, cold hatred.
