Her sister slapped her at dinner for refusing to babysit, completely unaware the paralegal was about to discover a hidden $3,000,000 trust document inside the childcare folder.

By Wednesday afternoon, twenty-four hours before our scheduled appearance in Judge Harris’s courtroom, the state’s legal machinery was moving at terrifying speed.

Armed with Tobias’s sworn affidavit and text logs, Arthur Vance and I met with Assistant District Attorney Marcus Cole at the Wake County Justice Center.

ADA Cole was a sharp, non-nonsense prosecutor with a reputation for prosecuting white-collar elder fraud. He reviewed the text logs, the neurologist’s report, and the forged quitclaim deeds for forty-five minutes in complete silence.

When he finished, he set the papers down and looked at Arthur.

"This isn't just civil fraud, Mr. Vance," ADA Cole said smoothly. "This is a felony conspiracy involving forgery, uttering a forged instrument, and exploitation of an incapacitated elder under North Carolina General Statutes Section 14-112.2."

"What about the notary, Karen Miller?" I asked.

ADA Cole clicked a button on his intercom. "Bring in Miss Miller."

The side door opened, and Karen Miller—Bridget’s thirty-two-year-old assistant—was led into the conference room by a detective.

She looked terrified. Her face was red, her eyes swollen from crying. She sat at the far end of the table, her hands shaking so violently she could barely hold her cup of water.

"Miss Miller," ADA Cole said calmly. "You notarized four quitclaim deeds transferring title from the Constance Parrot Trust to Devienne Holdings LLC on September 15th. Do you recognize your seal and signature on these documents?"

Karen looked at the deeds, let out a small sob, and nodded. "Yes..."

"Was Stanley Parrot present in your physical office when you affixed your notary seal to these documents?" ADA Cole asked, leaning forward.

Karen buried her face in her hands. "No," she wept. "No, he wasn't!"

"Who brought you the documents?"

"Bridget!" Karen sobbed uncontrollably. "Bridget brought them to my desk! She told me her father had signed them at home because he was too sick to come to the office! She said it was just a routine family estate update! She said if I didn't stamp them, she would fire me!"

"And were you aware that Mr. Parrot suffered from moderate dementia?" ADA Cole pressed.

"I didn't know!" Karen cried out. "I swear I didn't know it was illegal! Bridget told me it was all approved by their family lawyer!"

"Miss Miller," ADA Cole said sternly. "A notary seal is a state-commissioned guarantee of authenticity. By falsifying a legal acknowledgment on land deeds worth three million dollars, you committed four counts of felony notary fraud."

Karen broke down entirely, her shoulders shaking with desperate sobs. "I'll testify! I'll tell the judge everything! Please don't send me to prison! I have a three-year-old daughter!"

"Then you will sign a sworn affidavit right now detailing exactly how Bridget Sterling instructed you to falsify those documents," ADA Cole ordered, sliding a legal form across the table.

Karen grabbed a pen and began writing frantically, her tears dripping onto the legal paper.

I sat back in my chair, watching her sign.

Bridget had built her entire life on coercion—bullying me, manipulating our parents, and threatening her own assistant to pull off a multi-million-dollar theft.

Now, every single person she had pushed around was lined up to tell the truth.

As we walked out of the Justice Center, Arthur checked his watch.

"Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, Judge Harris takes the bench," Arthur said, turning to me with a faint smile. "Your mother and Bridget think they are coming to argue about a temporary injunction. They have no idea the District Attorney’s office will be sitting at our table."

"How is my mother handling this?" I asked quietly.

Arthur pulled up an email on his phone from my mother’s defense attorney, a prominent Raleigh lawyer named Richard Sterling (no relation to Tobias).

"Her attorney sent an urgent email ten minutes ago requesting an emergency settlement conference tonight at 7:00 PM at his office," Arthur said. "He says Eleanor is willing to return the land if you agree to drop all legal claims."