“I know.”
“He told me those papers were tax documents.”
“I’m sorry.”
Then she asked,
“Do you think I knew what he was doing with your villa?”
I considered the question carefully.
“I think you knew Dad was taking something that didn’t belong to him. I don’t think you knew exactly how.”
She remained silent.
Then said,
“That’s fair.”
Two weeks later, Dad was arrested.
Not dramatically.
Not at the villa.
He was leaving a bank after investigators discovered he had attempted to move another $38,000 from an account linked to Bennett Family Holdings.
The charges were serious.
Fraud.
Forgery-related offenses.
Identity misuse.
False loan representations.
Other charges were still being considered.
The legal process would take months.
Possibly years.
But the fantasy was over.
Dad could no longer tell people the villa belonged to him.
The fraudulent deed was challenged.
The lender agreed not to enforce its lien against me while the fraud case was investigated.
My title insurer stepped in.
And then Michael uncovered the part that finally explained why Dad had become so desperate.
The $480,000 had not simply been borrowed to give Olivia a better life.
Dad was already drowning financially.
Silver Pine Consulting wasn’t really a consulting company.
It was connected to a man named Harold Pike.
Dad had lost almost $300,000 in a private investment scheme over eighteen months.
He had borrowed from friends.
Credit cards.
Business accounts.
Susan.
And eventually me.
Again.
The $50,000 I had given him after James died had not saved the family house, as he claimed.
Most of it had covered previous investment losses.
The $18,000 emergency?
Same thing.
The smaller wire transfers?
Same pattern.
More than $110,000 I had given Dad over the years had not protected our family.
It had protected his lies.
Olivia received $140,000 because Dad needed her cooperation.
He promised her the villa.
A new business.
A fresh start.
