The meeting ended in a bitter stalemate.
Three days later, I drove over to my in-laws’ house to pick up a box of tax documents Alex had left in their study.
Before stepping inside, I heard Teresa talking on the phone in the kitchen.
“Get everything set up before Mariana starts putting up legal roadblocks,” she was saying. “We’ll handle Alex’s signature ourselves. That house is not going to end up controlled by an outsider.”
I turned around and walked back to my car without making a sound.
Two hours later, I received a call from our mortgage lender.
“Mrs. Sterling, we’re calling to verify a formal inquiry regarding the title and equity line on your property,” the representative said. “This morning, Mr. Arthur Vance submitted a signed power of attorney document, allegedly executed by your husband.”
An icy drop swept through my chest. “My husband never signed a power of attorney.”
The representative paused. “That was our suspicion. The signature didn’t match our file records, which is why we flagged the transaction.”
Alex arrived at the bank branch in less than thirty minutes. He reviewed the copy of the document.
“This is a forgery,” Alex said, his jaw clenching.
The bank’s security footage confirmed that his father had walked in that morning accompanied by Alex’s cousin, Hector Vance.
That evening, we drove straight to my in-laws’ house to confront them.
Alex slammed the copy of the forged document onto the dining table. “Who forged my signature on this?”
Teresa didn’t even have the grace to look ashamed. “We are protecting what belongs to this family.”
“My wife is my family,” Alex shot back.
Before the argument could escalate any further, the sound of heels clicking down the hallway echoed through the foyer.
A woman walked into the room carrying a sleek leather folder.
I recognized her immediately from old photographs.
Valerie Vance.
Teresa smiled as if her savior had just arrived. “Valerie, thank goodness you’re here.”
Valerie didn’t even look at Teresa. She glanced at Alex, and then turned her eyes directly to me.
“Relax, Mariana,” Valerie said calmly. “I’m not here to try and steal another woman’s husband.”