Andrew held up the deed Brooke had presented. “This document says I signed it as trustee. I didn’t.” Even worse, its notary stamp belonged to a woman who had retired two years earlier. The county had flagged the filing immediately. Since I inherited the property, the house had been protected by a trust, meaning nobody could legally sell or transfer it without Andrew’s approval. Brooke suddenly claimed there were debts, but Andrew confirmed Edith and Frank had owed nothing.

What Brooke didn’t know was that I had been warned three weeks earlier that she was asking a document preparer about deeds. Andrew alerted the county recorder and told me to let Brooke continue. That was why I promised to leave by Friday—I wanted her to arrive with the movers. Then Andrew produced an email chain. Brooke had paid the document preparer $8,000 to forge his signature, while Mom had provided the supposed “old records.” The preparer had already been arrested that morning. Then Dad lowered his head and made a confession nobody expected.