Chapter 2 - The Money I Sent Every Month
The next morning, I woke up before sunrise.
I couldn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Amy sitting on that plastic stool.
Holding our sick baby.
Serving people who were supposed to love her.
I walked into Frederick’s room.
He was sleeping peacefully.
Completely unaware that his first birthday had almost destroyed his family.
I touched his tiny hand.
And I made myself a promise.
I would never allow anyone to hurt him again.
Not even my own mother.
At 7:00 a.m., I opened my bank account.
I searched through every payment I had sent Teresa.
Three thousand dollars.
Every month.
For fourteen months.
Forty-two thousand dollars.
My chest tightened.
I called the bank.
“I need copies of every transaction and any information about where those funds went.”
The representative helped me review the records.
At first, everything looked normal.
Until I noticed something strange.
The money was not being used for groceries.
Not for baby supplies.
Not for household expenses.
The payments were transferred into another account.
A business account.
I stared at the screen.
“Whose account is this?”
The bank employee paused.
“It belongs to Bradley Family Holdings LLC.”
My blood went cold.
I had never heard of it.
“What is that?”
“I can’t provide ownership details over the phone, but you may request official records.”
I ended the call.
Then I looked at Amy.
“Did you know about this?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Did my mother ever give you money?”
A painful smile crossed her face.
“No.”
The truth finally became clear.
Teresa wasn’t helping us.
She was taking money from me while pretending to support my family.
But why?
That afternoon, I hired an attorney.
His name was Daniel Brooks.
He had handled construction contracts for my company before.
When I showed him the deed documents, his expression changed.
“Connor, where did you get this?”
“My cousin was carrying it during the birthday party.”
He studied the papers.
Then he looked at me.
“This is not just suspicious.”
“What is it?”
“A fake transfer attempt.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Daniel pointed at the signature section.
“This document claims you transferred ownership rights.”
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
He looked serious.
“Someone forged your signature.”
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
My mother wasn’t just humiliating my wife.
May you like
She wasn’t just stealing money.
She was trying to steal my home.
