Chapter 4 - UNRAVELING THE SYNDICATE
Evelyn’s calm exterior shattered into jagged pieces. "You miserable, backstabbing witch!" she shrieked, dropping her purse onto the gravel. "I raised you! I gave you everything! You owe me this house! You owe me respect!"
"I owe you nothing," Sarah spat. "Leave before I call the police to enforce the temporary restraining order I just obtained."
Evelyn glared at her with pure hatred, climbed back into her SUV, and slammed the door so hard the glass rattled. She reversed out of the driveway, tires screeching against the asphalt.
That evening, Marcus Vance called Sarah with crucial intelligence. He had sent a private investigator to track down Arthur Pendelton, the disgraced notary whose stamp was used on the forged deed.
"Pendelton folded the second my investigator mentioned federal prison time," Marcus explained over the phone. "He admitted that Evelyn paid him $10,000 in cash to stamp and notarize the document without you present. But that's not all, Sarah."
"What else?" Sarah asked, clutching the phone tightly.
"Pendelton kept text messages and bank transfer records from Evelyn. In those messages, Evelyn explicitly stated that she needed the house sold immediately to cover an urgent debt. She wasn't planning on living in your house, Sarah. She was planning to sell it to an overseas real estate buyer for cash the moment she evicted you."
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Sarah sank into her couch, horrified. "Why would she need that much cash so fast?"
"We ran a deep financial background check on your mother," Marcus revealed. "Evelyn has been living a double life. She owes over $600,000 to illegal gambling rings and predatory private lenders. They gave her an ultimatum: pay up by the end of the month, or they take everything she has. She was going to throw you and her granddaughters into the street to save her own skin."
