Chapter 2: Check the Savings Account
The building manager opened his folder right there in the hallway.
I watched Lorraine's eyes follow every page he turned.
When he looked up, his expression was careful.
Too careful.
"Ms.
Bennett…
there was a title amendment filed seven weeks ago.
A co-ownership transfer."
My legs went cold.
"Co-ownership with whom?" I asked.
He turned the document toward me.
The second name on the title wasn't Daniel's.
It was Lorraine's.
She straightened up immediately, that smile crawling back across her face.
"I told you.
My son took care of it."
One of the security guards stepped back.
He wasn't going to remove her.
Not now.
I stood there holding my grandmother's mug — she had put it down when the manager arrived — and I couldn't speak.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from Daniel.
*"Mom needed somewhere safe.
It's temporary.
Please don't make this a scene."*
Temporary.
He had put his mother's name on our home and called it temporary.
I looked at Lorraine.
She was already walking back toward the bedroom like the conversation was over.
May you like
But as she reached the doorway, she turned and said four words I will never forget:
"Check the savings account."
