Chapter 4 - The Demands of the Golden Child
At 1:15 PM, as Marcus and I were leaving the county recorder’s office with Brenda’s sworn affidavit in hand, my phone chimed.
It was a text from Lauren.
*You ruined Thanksgiving for everyone. Mom has a migraine and Dad’s blood pressure is through the roof because of your little tantrum. You humiliated me in front of Brad’s parents.*
Brad was her fiancé—a smooth-talking junior partner at a commercial real estate firm who drove a leased Porsche and wore watches that cost more than my car. He had sat at the Thanksgiving table smiling smugly while Lauren belittled my career, and he hadn't blinked when she slapped me across the face.
A second text popped up immediately after.
*If you want to ever be invited back into this family, you will send a handwritten apology to Brad and his parents by Sunday. And you will wire Mom the $1,200 you owe for the holiday catering. Until then, don't bother showing your face at Christmas.*
I stared at the screen, an incredulous laugh bubbling up in my throat. She had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars of my equity, had an illicit refinance pending, had struck me across the jaw in front of twenty-five people—and she was demanding twelve hundred dollars for turkey and stuffing.
“Look at this,” I said, handing the screen to Marcus as we reached his sedan.
Marcus skimmed the messages, shaking his head with a grim smirk. “Narcissists always operate under the assumption that they are untouchable. She genuinely believes you are still the compliant daughter who will swallow any amount of abuse to keep the peace.”
“She thinks I don’t know,” I said. “She thinks the deed transfer went through clean, the refinance will close on Tuesday, and I’ll just be out in the cold nursing a bruised cheek.”
“Which works entirely to our advantage,” Marcus said, unlocking the car doors. “The title company handling the cash-out refinance is First American Heritage. Because we now have Brenda’s affidavit and proof of your absence from the state, I’m filing an emergency *lis pendens* and a formal notice of dispute directly with their underwriting legal team. By four o'clock today, that three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar check will be dead in the water.”
“And what happens when the title company freezes the file?”
“The title company will immediately notify the lender,” Marcus said. “The lender will pull the loan. Then the underwriter will contact the legal department to investigate why a fraudulent deed was recorded. Within forty-eight hours, the bank will accelerate the original note on the house.”
I felt a sudden shiver run down my spine. “Which means Dad’s original mortgage becomes due immediately.”
“Yes,” Marcus looked at me intently. “They will be faced with total financial collapse unless they can produce the full payoff amount. Are you prepared for that, Maya? Once I pull this trigger, you can’t walk it back. There won't be any polite family dinners ever again.”
May you like
I touched my thumb against the corner of my mouth, where Lauren’s ring had cut the inside of my lip.
“Pull the trigger,” I said.
