"No, you shut up!" Maya screamed back, standing her ground this time, her tears dried, her brown eyes flashing with rage. "You thought you were so smart! You thought because I was struggling with rent downtown, you could run this entire family like your personal hedge fund! But I hired a forensic accountant last week, Marcus! I spent three thousand dollars of my own savings to pull the title records for this house!"
She reached into her back pocket, pulled out a folded piece of white paper, and slapped it down onto the glass coffee table directly in front of Arthur.
"Look at the bottom line, Dad," Maya said softly, her voice trembling again, but this time with bitter vindication. "Look at who holds the second mortgage on your home."
Act III: The House Built on Sand
Chapter 6: The Paper Trail
Arthur reached out with a hand that shook noticeably now. He picked up the folded paper, opened it, and held it beneath the warm light of the lamp.
It was a Notice of Default from the First Regional Bank of Connecticut.
Property Address: 142 Elmwood Lane, Oakridge, CT. Borrower: Marcus Vance (Power of Attorney for Arthur Vance). Amount in Arrears: $42,850.00. Status: Pending Foreclosure Proceedings (30 Days Notice).
Arthur stared at the black ink on the page. The letters seemed to swim before his eyes.
He looked at the tablet in his left hand—showing Maya's authorization to move $250,000 to Switzerland. Then he looked at the paper in his right hand—showing that his home was thirty days away from being auctioned on the courthouse steps because of Marcus's defaulted loan.
"Marcus..." Arthur said, his voice barely a breath. He looked up at his son, his eyes filled with a profound, crushing betrayal. "You put a second mortgage on the house?"