Chapter 6 - Grandma Ruth Takes the Wheel
Grandma Ruth slowly stood up from her chair, using her cane for balance, and walked over to Mason. She placed a gentle, wrinkled hand on his trembling shoulder.
"You're a good boy, Mason," Grandma Ruth said softly. "None of this is your fault. You hear me? You didn't do anything wrong."
Mason sniffled and nodded, wiping his sleeve across his wet face.
Then, Grandma Ruth turned back to Dana.
"Now, as for you, young lady," Grandma Ruth began, her tone carrying the authority of a woman who had run a successful accounting firm for forty years. "You seem to have forgotten a very important detail about this house."
Dana crossed her arms, trying to regain her defensive posture. "What detail? Adam and I are married. This is our marital home."
"No, darling, it isn't," Grandma Ruth said with a chillingly polite smile. "This house belonged to my late husband and me. When Adam got married to your predecessor, we put the deed in a family trust. Adam is a beneficiary. You, Dana, are not on the title. You don't own a single brick, a single shingle, or a single floorboard in this building."
Dana’s eyes widened slightly, her jaw dropping. "Adam... is that true?"
Dad didn't answer her. He just looked at her with hollow, exhausted eyes.
"Furthermore," Grandma Ruth continued, taking a step closer to Dana, "what you did with my four hundred dollars isn't just bad parenting. It's wire fraud and theft by deception. In the state of Pennsylvania, taking money specifically earmarked and transferred for a designated third-party purchase and using it for personal conversion is a crime."
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Dana scoffed, though her voice lacked any real confidence. "You wouldn't call the police on Christmas over four hundred dollars. Don't be ridiculous."
"Try me," Grandma Ruth whispered. "I have the bank records, I have the text messages where you explicitly asked for Natalie's tablet funds, and I have the receipt for the designer bag you purchased twelve hours later. Do you really want to spend your Christmas afternoon in the back of a squad car in front of all the neighbors?"
