Chapter 4 - The Secrets of the Baltimore Estate
I stepped deeper into the quiet hospital corridor, away from the glass room where Olivia was finally falling asleep under Jessica’s watchful eye.
"What estate, Uncle Richard?" I asked, my brow furrowing. "My father died when I was twelve. Carmen always told me he died penniless, leaving us drowning in medical debt. That's why I've been sending her monthly allowances since I turned twenty-two!"
Richard let out a heavy, bitter laugh. "Your father, Arthur, was a brilliant civil engineer. He didn't die penniless, Zayden. He left a $1.2 million life insurance policy and a commercial property trust specifically designated for you, to be transferred into your name on your thirtieth birthday."
My breath caught in my throat. "What?"
"Carmen hid the will," Richard revealed, his tone dripping with long-buried resentment. "She forged power-of-attorney documents with a crooked estate lawyer in Baltimore right after Arthur passed. She spent twenty years living off your father's trust, liquidating his assets, and lying to you so you would feel obligated to support her. When the trust money finally ran out two years ago because of her gambling habit and lavish lifestyle, that's when she forced herself into your home in Phoenix!"
The magnitude of the deceit was staggering. My entire life—my drive to work eighty hours a week, my desperate need to financially secure my mother, my guilt over her supposed sacrifices—was built on a massive, calculated lie.
"Do you have proof of this, Richard?" I demanded, my hands shaking with suppressed fury.
"I have the original trust documents signed by your father before he died," Richard replied. "Arthur knew Carmen was unstable and greedy, so he made me a secondary witness. I tried to confront her fifteen years ago, but she threatened to frame me for fraud and keep you away from me forever. I was young and scared, so I backed off. But I kept the documents. I'm taking the next flight to Phoenix, Zayden. It's time to end her reign of terror once and for all."
"Thank you, Uncle Richard," I said. "Bring everything."
I hung up the phone and walked back into the room. Jessica was watching me with concern.
"What is it, Zayden?"
"My mother is not just a cruel abuser, Jess," I said, sitting beside her bed and taking her hand. "She’s a criminal mastermind who stole my father's legacy and robbed us of our entire lives. But it ends today. Tomorrow morning, I am hiring the most ruthless family and criminal lawyer in the state of Arizona."
The next morning, the legal storm began.
I retained Eleanor Vance, a legendary senior partner at a top Phoenix law firm known for representing victims of severe domestic abuse. After reviewing the police report, the hospital medical records, the red ledger, and the financial trail provided by Uncle Richard, Vance looked at me across her mahogany desk with a razor-sharp smile.
"Mr. Ferris, your mother isn't just looking at domestic violence charges," Vance stated, sliding a legal brief across the desk. "We are filing for a formal Order of Protection immediately. Furthermore, based on the ledger and medical evidence, the District Attorney is charging her with Class 2 Felony Child Abuse, Vulnerable Adult Abuse, Kidnapping through physical restraint, and Illegal Deprivation of Essential Medication."
"What kind of prison time are we looking at?" I asked coldly.
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"If convicted on all counts—and with this paper trail, conviction is nearly guaranteed—she is facing 15 to 25 years in state prison," Vance replied. "And regarding the stolen estate from your father, we are filing a civil lawsuit to freeze all her personal bank accounts and seize her assets in Baltimore to repay every single dollar she embezzled from you."
"Do it," I said without a second of hesitation. "Strip her of everything."
