Chapter 4 - The Company That Was Built With Ada’s MoneyThe lawsuit arrived three days after Ada's funeral.
Northline Renovations claimed Ada had promised the company $250,000.
Philip insisted the money had nothing to do with him.
But the documents told another story.
Nathan placed everything on my dining table.
Bank transfers.
Invoices.
Emails.
Contracts.
Tax records.
Every page led back to Philip.
“You used your mother's money to fund your company,” Nathan said.
Philip rubbed his forehead.
“It was temporary.”
“Three years is not temporary.”
“I was going to pay her back.”
“You said that before.”
Philip slammed his hand onto the table.
“You don't understand!”
Nathan didn't flinch.
“No. I understand perfectly.”
He opened another file.
“The problem is that your mother documented everything.”
I looked at the paperwork.
Ada had been far more organized than anyone realized.
She had kept receipts.
Copies.
Dates.
Names.
Even handwritten notes beside transactions.
She had built a trail so detailed that no lawyer could easily erase it.
Then I saw something familiar.
A signature.
My stomach tightened.
“What is that?”
Nathan looked.
“A property transfer.”
Philip went pale.
“That's impossible.”
Nathan handed me the document.
The property was a commercial building in downtown Raleigh.
Ada had purchased it years earlier.
Philip had used it as collateral for Northline Renovations.
Except the mortgage had been transferred without Ada's permission.
“She never authorized this,” I said.
Nathan nodded.
“She didn't.”
Philip stared at the document.
“I didn't forge anything.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Then who did?”
Philip didn't answer.
A silence settled over the room.
Then Philip whispered a name.
“Marcus.”
“Who is Marcus?”
“My business partner.”
Nathan immediately wrote it down.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“When did you last speak to him?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Nathan closed the folder.
“Then we need to find him.”
Philip looked terrified.
“What if he left?”
Nathan replied calmly.
“Then we find him before the police do.”
I looked at Philip.
“You said your mother was confused.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“I thought she didn't understand what was happening.”
“She understood enough to protect herself.”
Philip nodded slowly.
Then he asked something I wasn't expecting.
“Did she ever talk about me?”
I hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That she loved you.”
He closed his eyes.
“Anything else?”
“That she was disappointed.”
He looked down.
“That's worse.”
I sat across from him.
“Ada didn't hate you.”
He swallowed.
“She was afraid of you.”
That broke something inside him.
He covered his face.
Nathan quietly gathered the papers.
“I'll contact the investigators.”
Philip looked at him.
“Investigators?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because these transactions may constitute fraud.”
Philip looked at me.
His eyes were full of fear.
“Are you going to press charges?”
I didn't answer immediately.
Then I remembered Ada.
Her hands.
Her blue cardigan.
Her stubborn smile.
Her saying, I know my son.
“I don't know,” I said.
“That means yes.”
“No.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means I'm not your mother.”
He looked at me.
“Ada gets to decide what happens to you.”
“She can't. She's dead.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“She left evidence.”
I pointed toward the files.
“She prepared the truth before she died.”
Nathan nodded.
“She did.”
Then his phone rang again.
He answered.
His face went pale.
“Mr. Holloway?”
Philip stood.
“What?”
Nathan slowly lowered the phone.
“Marcus was found.”
“Where?”
“In another state.”
“Alive?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Then what's wrong?”
Nathan looked at me.
“He went to the police himself.”
Philip's face drained.
“Why?”
May you like
Nathan's voice was quiet.
“Because he says he has evidence that your mother wasn't the only victim.”
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