Chapter 4 - The First Payment Declined
I called a solicitor that afternoon.
Not Wesley's solicitor.
Not the man Serena once recommended.
Mine.
Her name was Rachel Morgan, and Lydia knew her professionally.
Rachel arrived the next morning carrying a laptop and the kind of expression that made me feel safer immediately.
She didn't dramatize.
She didn't speculate.
She read.
For nearly an hour.
Then she looked up.
"Your house has not been transferred."
I exhaled.
"But?"
"But there were documents prepared that referenced it as part of a broader financial proposal."
"Prepared by whom?"
"That is what we're going to establish."
Wesley's name appeared repeatedly.
So did Hale Meridian.
My signature did not appear on the final pages.
That mattered.
Rachel explained that draft paperwork wasn't the same as a completed transaction.
I listened carefully.
"So my house is safe?"
"At present, based on what I've reviewed, I don't see evidence that ownership changed."
"At present."
"I don't like promising beyond evidence."
I liked her.
"What should I do?"
"First, we secure your financial arrangements. Second, we document everything. Third, you don't sign anything Wesley or Serena brings you."
"I won't."
"Fourth, we determine how your existing authorizations were used."
By afternoon, Rachel had copies.
Lydia had records.
And I had something I hadn't possessed for years.
A boundary.
Wesley called seventeen times that day.
I finally answered the eighteenth.
"Mum."
His voice sounded exhausted.
"Hello, Wesley."
"We need to talk."
"We are talking."
"In person."
"Not today."
"Serena didn't mean what she said."
"Which part?"
Silence.
"About you needing us."
"She meant it."
"She was angry."
"So was I. I didn't threaten her."
He exhaled.
"Mum, everything is collapsing."
"No. Everything is becoming yours."
"What?"
"The mortgage. The utilities. Your business. Your memberships. Your insurance. Your life."
"You can't just pull ninety thousand pounds out of our annual budget overnight."
"I already did."
"That's not fair."
The words stunned me.
"Fair?"
"I didn't mean—"
"I was excluded from your family dinner after paying £93,600 toward your life this year, and you want to discuss fairness?"
He went quiet.
Then his voice changed.
"I'm sorry."
It was the first apology.
Not enough.
But real.
"I should've stopped Serena."
"Yes."
"I should've invited you."
"No."
He hesitated.
"No?"
"You shouldn't have needed to invite me because Serena shouldn't have been allowed to remove me in the first place."
Another silence.
"Mum, things between Serena and me aren't what you think."
I closed my eyes.
"Then tell me."
"I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"Not over the phone."
There was fear in his voice.
That bothered me.
"Is Serena there?"
"No."
"Where is she?"
"At her parents'."
"Where is my granddaughter?"
"With me."
Relief.
"Is she all right?"
"She's confused."
"Don't involve her."
"I won't."
"Wesley?"
"Yes?"
"Why was my house mentioned in Hale Meridian paperwork?"
Nothing.
Not even breathing.
"Wesley?"
"Mum, don't sign anything."
Cold traveled through me.
"I wasn't planning to."
"No matter what Serena says."
I sat straighter.
"What has Serena done?"
"I have to go."
"Wesley."
The call ended.
I immediately called Rachel.
She listened.
"Change your locks," she said.
"Serena doesn't have a key."
"Are you certain?"
I wasn't.
By evening, the locks were changed.
I felt ridiculous.
Then, at 9:12 p.m., someone tried the old key in my front door.
Once.
Twice.
I stood in the hallway with my phone in my hand.
The handle moved.
Then stopped.
A shadow passed across the frosted glass.
I didn't open the door.
A moment later, my phone buzzed.
Serena.
We need to talk privately. Wesley has lied to both of us.
I stared at the message.
Then another arrived.
Ask him where the £240,000 went.
I read it three times.
£240,000.
I called Rachel.
Then I called Wesley.
He didn't answer.
I tried again.
Nothing.
At 9:19, Serena sent one final message.
You think I'm the problem. You don't know your son.
I stood alone in the hallway while rain began tapping against the windows again.
For fifteen years, I had believed Serena was the person slowly pulling my family apart.
Now, for the first time, I wondered whether she had been telling at least one truth.
Because somewhere inside Wesley's business, nearly a quarter of a million pounds had disappeared.
May you like
And both my son and his wife seemed terrified that I was about to discover where it had gone.
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