Chapter 2 - The House of Cards
The drive to Margaret’s estate usually took twenty minutes, but Daniel made it in twelve.
He pulled up to the heavy iron gates that guarded his mother’s sprawling property.
He reached out the window to punch in his personalized entry code on the keypad.
A sharp, red light blinked back at him.
Access denied.
Daniel blinked in disbelief and punched the numbers in again, pressing the buttons harder.
Access denied.
Panic gripped his throat like a vice.
She hadn't just cut off the money, she had erased his access to her entirely.
He slammed his hand against the steering wheel, cursing loudly into the empty car.
Desperate, he parked the heavy SUV on the street and climbed over the snow-covered stone wall.
He trudged through the deep snow, ruining his expensive Italian leather shoes.
When he finally reached the massive oak front door, he pounded his fist against the wood.
“Mom!” he shouted, his breath creating clouds in the freezing air.
“Mom, open the door, we need to talk right now!”
Inside, Margaret was sitting in her reading chair by the fireplace, a thick blanket draped over her lap.
She heard the heavy pounding, but she did not flinch.
She simply turned the page of her book.
“Mom, please!” Daniel’s voice cracked, sounding more like a frightened boy than a grown man.
“Claire is threatening to leave if we lose the house!”
Margaret stared into the crackling flames of the fire.
She wondered how long it would take for Claire to realize that Daniel was nothing but a hollow shell.
After ten minutes of screaming, Daniel’s voice finally faded away.
He walked back to his car, shivering, defeated, and completely terrified of what was waiting for him at home.
When he finally returned to Maplewood, he found Claire sitting at the dining room table with a laptop open.
Her eyes were wide, staring at the screen in absolute horror.
“Claire?” Daniel asked cautiously, slowly taking off his wet coat.
She slowly turned the laptop around so he could see the screen.
It was their joint bank account dashboard.
Every single transaction history had been printed out.
“Who is M.W. Trust?” Claire asked, her voice trembling with barely suppressed rage.
Daniel felt the blood drain from his face.
“Why has M.W. Trust been depositing fifteen thousand dollars into our account every single month?” Claire demanded.
Daniel swallowed hard, unable to find a single lie that could save him now.
“It’s my mother,” Daniel whispered, looking down at the floor.
Claire stood up so fast that her chair crashed backward onto the rug.
“Your mother?” she screamed, her face turning crimson.
“The woman we just kicked off our porch last night pays for my life?”
Daniel tried to step forward, holding his hands up defensively.
“I was trying to protect you, Claire, I didn't want you to worry about money.”
“You lied to me!” she shrieked, throwing a heavy silver candle holder at the wall.
“You told me you were making millions at your firm!”
The reality of their situation was crashing down with brutal speed.
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There was no secret wealth, there was no massive business empire.
There was only Margaret, and she had closed her checkbook forever.
