Attorney Delgado explained that the photographs came from an investigator hired after a title company contacted him about suspicious paperwork. Marguerite had been trying to establish that Emmett had ownership rights in the house so she could push through financing for renovations and other debts. One document carried what appeared to be Emmett’s signature. The problem was simple: Emmett had been hundreds of miles away on a business trip when it was signed.
Emmett stared at Marguerite as though he were seeing her for the first time. Coralie finally admitted her mother had been pressuring them for months to “secure” the house before I changed my mind. That was why Marguerite wanted me kept away from gatherings, why she had started referring to the property as theirs, and why my presence at the birthday party suddenly mattered so much. She needed everyone behaving as though I had already surrendered control.
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