Chapter 5 - The Ledger of Deceit
The voice on the audio recording was Rebecca's, but the tone was entirely different from the polite, polished demeanor she used with David. She sounded sharp, desperate, and deeply involved in something illegal.
"I told you, I’m working on it," Rebecca hissed into the phone. "The old woman’s accounts are locked tight under a dual-signature clause. I can't just wire the money out without David noticing."
A man’s voice, deep and impatient, responded on the other end of the line. "You’ve had six months, Rebecca. My patience is wearing thin. The developers in Cabo are demanding the final deposit on the villa by the end of the month. If we don't clear the balance, we lose the property and the deposit."
"I’m going to get the signature," Rebecca snapped. "I’ve already got her isolated. David is in Chicago for another two days. By the time he gets back, she’ll have signed the power of attorney documents. I’ve made sure she’s too tired and too weak to fight back anymore."
David’s blood turned to ice.
He opened a secure browser window and logged into his mother’s personal trust fund account—an inheritance left by his late father, meant to secure Evelyn’s medical care for the rest of her life. The account was supposed to hold roughly four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
The balance displayed on the screen was $12,411.03.
Over the last four months, systematic transfers of fifty thousand dollars had been made to a dummy corporation called Apex Properties LLC, registered in Delaware.
David’s hands shook so violently he could barely hold his mouse. He clicked through the transaction histories, pulling up the digital copies of the transfer authorization forms. Every single form bore his mother’s signature. But the signatures weren't the elegant, fluid cursive his mother was known for; they were shaky, disjointed scribbles, looking as though her hand had been forcibly guided across the paper.
He realized then the true scale of the horror. Rebecca hadn't just been neglecting his mother. She was systematically torturing her, starving her of water and mobility, to break her will and steal her life savings.
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And the man on the phone—the one talking about the villa in Cabo—wasn't a business associate.
It was Marcus Vance, Rebecca’s ex-husband, whom she claimed had passed away in a car accident six years ago.
