The recording crackled through the conference room, and Colton’s voice suddenly filled the silence. “Just sign the shop over to me now, Amos. She’s going to get it anyway, and she’ll do whatever I tell her. If she argues, Mom knows a doctor who’ll say she’s too emotional to manage money.” My hands went cold. Then Dad’s voice answered, calm and steady. “You know I’m recording this, son?” Colton shot out of his chair. “Turn that off!” But Gideon Pratt simply let the recording continue.

Patrice sat frozen beside him, her face drained of color. When it ended, Gideon pushed a thick envelope toward me. “Your father asked me to give you this before I read his will,” he said. I opened it, expecting another legal document. Instead, I saw my name printed across the top of a credit report—and two loans I had never opened. Click continue reading below