Chapter 7 - The Price of Pride
"She’s ruined us, Amanda!" Ethan shouted, his composure shattering completely. He gripped the fence with both hands, shaking it until the chain link rattled against the iron posts. "Mother took out bridge loans against Magnolia Crest to fund a commercial high-rise in Savannah! The bank called the note last week. We have thirty days, or the sheriff posts the foreclosure auction notice on the front gates!"
Amanda slowly stepped down from the workshop threshold. She walked across the gravel until she stood less than three feet from him, separated only by the wire mesh.
"Magnolia Crest has been in father’s family for four generations," Amanda said, her voice dropping to a sharp whisper. "It has an unencumbered estate trust. She couldn't mortgage the land without my signature as the co-trustee."
Ethan looked away, his jaw working frantically. Color drained from his cheeks.
"Ethan," Amanda commanded. "What did she do?"
"She... she filed an affidavit of abandonment two years ago," Ethan whispered, tears of shame welling in his eyes. "She claimed you had vanished after committing grand larceny. She produced forged corporate waivers saying you surrendered your rights to the grandfather trust."
A cold, razor-thin smile touched Amanda’s lips. It was horrifying, but it was also the final piece of the puzzle. Eleanor hadn't just thrown her out in a fit of rage. Every word spoken that night—every tear shed by the society guests who watched Amanda get dragged to the curb—had been stage-managed to establish a legal record of a daughter who was "unstable, criminal, and estranged."
"And now the bank’s forensic auditors are reviewing the loan portfolio," Amanda observed calmly. "And they noticed the signatures on the original trust covenants don't match."
"They're threatening criminal fraud charges against her," Ethan choked out. "And against me! I signed as an executive witness because she told me you were dead to us! If you don't sign a retroactive ratifying release, Amanda, Mother is going to state prison. And the family loses everything."
Amanda looked into her brother’s terrified eyes. "You didn't come here because you missed me. You came here to ask the ghost you buried to sign your pardon."
"Amanda, please—she’s still our mother!"
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"No," Amanda said, turning her back on him. "She’s a bankrupt criminal. And you’re her accomplice. Get off my property before I have Holloway’s security team haul you away like a common vagrant."
***
