Chapter 3 - Cracks in the Facade
By noon, the news had spread through Silver Lake’s tight-knit business community like wildfire. The investors who had attended the Fourth of July barbecue were calling Harvey non-stop, demanding clarification regarding the land development deal he had pitched them the night before.
I sat in Thomas’s downtown office while his corporate team reviewed the materials Harvey had distributed to the guests. It turned out my son had been taking out personal loans, using his alleged upcoming inheritance of the Silver Lake acreage as collateral, and soliciting private equity for a proposed luxury resort complex on my waterfront.
"He pledged twenty acres of the western parcel to a firm called Apex Capital," Thomas explained, sliding a prospectus across the desk. "He took a five-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit from them three weeks ago, claiming he had power of attorney over your real estate portfolio."
"He committed fraud," I said softly, the realization chilling me to the bone. "He wasn't just trying to humiliate me to assert dominance. He needed everyone at that party to believe I was incompetent or merely an employee so no one would ask me directly about the title."
"Precisely," Thomas nodded. "If they thought you were a hired caretaker whose memory was failing, they wouldn't cross-check his signatures. But now that we've filed the public notice of trust ownership, Apex Capital is filing a fraud claim against him. He faces criminal charges unless he repays the deposit within seven days."
My phone buzzed on the desk. It was a text from Harvey, followed by twelve missed calls.
May you like
Mom, please. We need to talk. Bethany didn't mean what she said. You're ruining my life.
I turned the phone face down. "Let him call. He needs to realize that actions have consequences that a mother's forgiveness cannot wash away."
