Chapter 5 - Her Mother Finally Admits It
Brooke’s mother sat at the kitchen table with both hands over her face.
“My name,” Brooke repeated.
“Who signed it?”
Her mother whispered:
“I did.”
Gary exploded.
“Shut up!”
Everyone turned.
Her mother looked at him.
For the first time, fear appeared on her face.
Gary stepped closer.
“You’re panicking.”
Nathan immediately moved between them.
“Back up.”
Gary laughed.
“You think you can walk into my house—”
“It isn’t your house.”
Silence.
Nathan’s words landed strangely.
Brooke frowned.
“What?”
Nathan looked at her mother.
“She didn’t tell you that either?”
The house belonged to a family holding company created by Brooke’s grandmother.
Brooke and Ethan were beneficiaries.
Their mother had occupancy rights while the children were minors.
Gary owned nothing.
Not the kitchen.
Not the land.
Not the house he had spent years calling his.
Brooke stared at him.
Gary’s face had gone red.
Her mother began crying harder.
“I thought I could repay it.”
Brooke looked at her.
“Repay what?”
“The first withdrawal.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“For what?”
Her mother wouldn’t answer.
Gary did.
“A business investment.”
Nathan laughed without humor.
“His business?”
Her mother nodded.
The first transfer funded Gary’s failing contracting company.
Then came another.
Then another.
When the business still struggled, Gary began inventing child-related expenses to justify withdrawals.
Brooke’s mother signed.
Sometimes knowingly.
Sometimes after Gary prepared everything.
Then they learned Brooke would gain direct rights to review the trust at eighteen.
That changed the scheme.
They needed control beyond her birthday.
Hence the conservatorship petition.
Brooke looked at her mother.
“You were going to tell a judge I’m incompetent.”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“By taking control of my money?”
“I thought once Gary’s company recovered—”
Brooke laughed.
“You thought stealing more would fix stealing?”
Her mother winced.
Nathan didn’t interrupt.
This needed to come from Brooke.
Then Ethan asked quietly:
“Mom, did you know Gary scares me?”
Her mother’s face collapsed.
Ethan waited.
She whispered:
“Yes.”
Brooke closed her eyes.
That hurt worse than the money.
“How long?”
Her mother couldn’t answer.
Gary snapped:
“She’s making this into abuse.”
Brooke turned on him.
“You held a belt over him.”
“I didn’t hit him.”
“You wanted him scared.”
Gary smiled coldly.
“Sometimes kids need fear.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
So did Brooke’s.
That sentence ended any debate about whether Gary understood what he was doing.
Then the mysterious phone rang again.
Nathan looked at it.
“It’s probably Ms. Harper.”
“Who?”
“The trust attorney.”
Brooke answered.
A woman said:
“Brooke, I need to ask you one question. Has anyone asked you to sign medical or legal papers recently?”
Brooke’s stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A competency evaluation.”
The attorney went silent.
Then:
“Do not sign it.”
Brooke looked at Gary.
“Why?”
May you like
“Because the psychologist listed on that evaluation lost his license eight months ago.”
Gary’s face went white.
