Harper tried to touch my arm, but I took a step back.
“Mom, please think of us. We are your children. We are your blood. You cannot prefer strangers over your own family.”
I looked her in the eyes, this forty-five-year-old woman who was once my baby, my little girl, my reason for getting up every morning. And I saw a stranger. I saw someone who had taken everything I offered and never gave anything back. I saw someone who loved me only to the extent that I was useful.
“I need you to leave my house,” I said with a low but clear voice.
Catherine put away her documents.
“Very well, Mrs. Vance. Consider yourself formally notified. Within five business days, you will receive the court summons. I hope you reconsider your position before then.”
The three turned around and walked toward the car. Before getting in, Caleb looked at me one last time.
“This is your fault, Mom. You are forcing us to do this.”
They drove off, leaving a cloud of dust and threats in the air.
I closed the door and leaned against it, feeling my legs give way. But I did not cry. I did not allow myself that luxury. I walked to the phone and dialed Margaret’s number. She answered on the second ring.
“Maggie, I need help,” I said simply.
“I am on my way,” she replied without asking questions.
Twenty minutes later, she was in my living room. I told her everything while she listened with an increasingly serious expression. When I finished, she took my hand.
“Elleanor, those children of yours are playing dirty. But you have something they do not know you have.”
“The black folder,” I said, nodding.
“Exactly. But you need professional legal help. You need someone who is on your side.”
She took out her phone and called someone.
“James, it is Maggie. I need you to come to Elleanor’s house right now. It is urgent.”
Mr. James Bennett arrived an hour later. He was no longer just my financial adviser. In these three years, he had become someone I trusted. I explained the situation while he took notes.
“This is harassment and attempted covert fraud,” he said finally. “They are using the legal system to intimidate you and force you to cede your property—but they are in for a surprise.”
I opened the black folder on the table. James began to review the documents one by one. With every page he turned, his expression became more serious and also more satisfied.
“Elleanor, this is pure gold,” he said after reviewing everything. “You have documentation of three years of negligence, abandonment, emotional extortion, and now attempted fraud. More importantly, you have this.”
He pointed to a specific document. I knew it well. It was a waiver signed by Harper and Caleb three years ago when I got sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized. They refused to take charge of me. The hospital needed a responsible family member and both signed documents rejecting that responsibility. They said they could not care for me, that they did not have the time or resources.
“That document automatically disqualifies them from any conservatorship,” explained James. “They themselves renounced their family responsibility. They cannot come now to claim it just because it suits them.”
Margaret smiled.
“Those two idiots dug their own grave.”
James organized all the documents.
“I am going to prepare a countersuit, and I am going to request a temporary restraining order so they cannot harass you like this again.”
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