His face flushed red. «That’s different. This is about your financial security.»
«No, Marcus. This is about $60,000 you spent on a BMW and however much more debt you’re carrying that I don’t know about yet.»
He stood up abruptly, the mask finally falling away completely. «You know what, Mom? You’re right. We are in trouble. Ashley lost her job six months ago. We’re behind on the mortgage, behind on everything. And yes, I bought Linda that car because she promised to help us figure out a way to fix this mess.»
Finally, some honesty. «And what exactly did she promise you?»
«She said if we showed her how much we valued her advice, she could help us restructure our finances. She knows people, Mom. Important people with money.»
«People like her mysterious investment group?»
«Yes. And all we need is some startup capital to get into their program. Capital that you’re just letting sit here doing nothing.»
There it was. The full truth laid bare in all its pathetic desperation. My son hadn’t bought Linda a BMW out of generosity. He’d bought it as a down payment on a con job, using money he’d borrowed against his house, betting that he could manipulate his mother into bailing him out.
«I see. And if I don’t provide this ‘startup capital’?»
Marcus’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper. «Mom, we could lose the house. The kids’ college funds are already gone. Ashley’s talking about leaving me.»
My heart broke a little, despite everything. This was still my son, still the little boy who’d once brought me dandelions and called them flowers. But he was also a grown man who’d chosen to solve his problems by defrauding his mother instead of asking for help.
«Marcus, why didn’t you just come to me honestly? Why all this elaborate deception with Linda and fake power of attorney documents and investment scams?»
He went very still. «What power of attorney documents?»
«The ones filed with the county clerk giving you legal authority over my finances. The ones with my forged signature.»
The color drained from his face. «Mom, I don’t know anything about power of attorney documents. That wasn’t part of the plan.»
«What plan?»
«Linda said… she said you’d resist the investment opportunity at first, but if we showed you how successful and grateful we were, you’d eventually come around. She said older people needed to see proof of prosperity before they’d trust financial advice.»
I stared at my son, seeing him clearly for perhaps the first time in years. He was a victim too, just a more willing one than I was supposed to be.
«Marcus, Linda Chen is not who she pretends to be. She’s been running surveillance on this family for months, forging legal documents, and setting up what amounts to an elaborate theft of my assets.»
«That’s impossible. She’s been nothing but kind to us.»
«Kind people don’t take photographs of other people’s social security cards, Marcus. Kind people don’t have their sons file missing person reports when they disappear for a few hours.»
He sank back into his chair, looking lost and confused. For a moment I felt sorry for him. Then I remembered the three-dollar piggy bank, and the feeling passed.
«Mom, what are you saying?»
«I’m saying you and Ashley have been played by a professional, and you were so desperate to solve your financial problems that you didn’t bother to question why a wealthy widow would need you to buy her expensive gifts before she’d help you.»
Marcus buried his face in his hands. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with tears. «God, Mom, what have I done?»
What Marcus had done, as it turned out, was worse than either of us had initially realized. Over the next two hours, as I made coffee and forced him to walk me through every interaction he’d had with Linda Chen, the scope of their manipulation became clear.
Linda hadn’t just targeted our family randomly. She’d been watching us since Tom’s funeral, studying our routines, learning our vulnerabilities. She’d known Marcus was struggling financially before he’d even realized it himself, and she’d positioned herself perfectly to offer solutions when the pressure became unbearable.
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«She knew everything, Mom. She knew about Ashley’s job situation before Ashley even got laid off. She knew about the second mortgage before we applied for it. It was like she could predict exactly what we’d need and when we’d need it.»
I thought about those surveillance photos in her phone, the months of preparation, the carefully staged introduction at Ashley’s birthday party. «Marcus, this wasn’t a coincidence. Linda Chen researched our family like a doctoral thesis. She knew exactly which buttons to push and when.»
«But why us? We’re not rich people.»
I walked to the window, looking out at the house that had become the centerpiece of Linda’s elaborate con. «We’re not rich, but this property is worth $450,000. Add in Tom’s pension, my savings, and the insurance money, and we’re talking about three-quarters of a million dollars in assets.»
Marcus went very quiet. «That much?»
«That much. Enough to make it worth months of planning and a $60,000 investment in gaining your trust.»
«Jesus. Mom, I’m so sorry. I’ve screwed up everything.»
Sorry wasn’t going to fix the forged documents or the second mortgage or the fact that his financial problems had made him vulnerable to a predator, but it was a start.
«Marcus, I need you to be completely honest with me now. What exactly did Linda promise you in return for buying her that car?»
He took a shaky breath. «She said her investment group required a demonstration of good faith from potential clients, something to show we were serious about working with them. The car was supposed to prove we could handle significant financial decisions.»
«And after the car?»
«She said they’d review our financial situation and help us restructure everything, consolidate our debts, set up new investment portfolios, maybe even help us qualify for better mortgage terms.»
«For a fee, I assume?»
«Well, yes. But she said the returns would more than offset the costs. She showed me projections, charts, testimonials from other families they’d helped.»
I almost felt sorry for him. Linda had played him so skillfully, giving him exactly the hope he’d needed to hear while slowly drawing him deeper into debt and desperation.
«Marcus, did you ever meet any of these other families?»
«No. But Linda said they valued their privacy. High-net-worth individuals don’t like to publicize their financial strategies.»
«And you never thought to independently verify any of this?»
His face crumpled. «Mom, I was drowning. Ashley was talking about divorce lawyers. The kids were asking why we couldn’t afford their school activities anymore. And I was working 70-hour weeks just to stay afloat. When Linda offered a solution, I grabbed it like a life preserver.»
I understood desperation, but I also understood that desperation didn’t excuse what he’d been willing to do to me. «So you decided to throw your mother overboard to save yourself?»
«That’s not how she presented it. She said it was a win-win situation. You’d get better returns on your investments, we’d get help with our debts, and everyone would be better off financially.»
«Except that I’d have to sell my house and rent it back from her associates.»
«She said you’d been talking about downsizing anyway.»
«I never said any such thing.»
Marcus looked stricken. «But she said… she said you’d mentioned feeling overwhelmed by the maintenance, that the house was too big for just one person.»
Another lie, carefully crafted to make their theft sound like a favor. «Marcus, I love this house. Your father and I built our entire life here. It’s where you took your first steps, where we celebrated every holiday, where I planned to live until they carry me out.»
He was crying now, really crying. And despite everything, my heart ached for him. He was still my child, still the little boy who’d once thought I could fix anything that was broken.
«Mom, I don’t know how to fix this. Even if we wanted to back out now, I don’t know how. The car loan is in my name. The second mortgage payment is due next week. And Linda keeps talking about the investment group’s timeline, how they need decisions soon or the opportunity will disappear.»
«Marcus, there is no investment group. There never was. Linda Chen is running a con, and you’re both the bait and the backup plan.»
«What do you mean?»
I sat down across from him, choosing my words carefully. «I think Linda’s original plan was to manipulate me directly into signing over my assets. But when that proved more difficult than expected, she shifted to using you as leverage. Get you so deep in debt that I’d have no choice but to help. Then present her solution as the only way to save the family.»
His face went white. «You think this was all calculated from the beginning?»
«Marcus, she had photographs of my Social Security card. She filed fake power of attorney documents. She’s been in contact with property appraisers and God knows who else. This wasn’t desperation or opportunism. This was a professional operation.»
We sat in silence for a long moment, both of us processing the magnitude of what Linda had orchestrated. Finally, Marcus looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. «Mom, what do we do now?»
For the first time since this whole mess had started, I smiled genuinely at my son. «Now, sweetheart, we turn the tables. Linda Chen thinks she’s been playing chess with amateurs. She’s about to discover that this particular amateur has been learning the game while she wasn’t paying attention.»
«What do you mean?»
I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone, scrolling to the voice recording app I’d started when Marcus first arrived. «I mean, I’ve been documenting every conversation, every confession, every admission of guilt. Linda may be good at running cons, but she made one critical mistake.»
«What’s that?»
«She underestimated the woman whose life she was trying to steal.» I stood up, feeling more energized than I had in months. «Now let’s call Ashley and get her over here. It’s time for this family to have a completely honest conversation about exactly what we’re going to do to Linda Chen.»
Marcus looked up at me with something approaching hope. «You’re going to help us?»
I thought about the $3 piggy bank sitting on my kitchen counter, about the forged documents and the surveillance photos and the elaborate manipulation that had nearly destroyed my family.
«Oh, sweetheart, I’m going to do so much more than help you. I’m going to teach Linda Chen why you should never try to con a woman who’s lived through 70 years of people underestimating her.»
Ashley arrived within the hour, looking like she’d been crying for days. When she saw Marcus’s tear-stained face and the pile of investment documents scattered across my coffee table, she sank into Tom’s old recliner with a defeated sigh.
«She knows, doesn’t she?» Ashley asked quietly. «About all of it.»
«I know about the forged documents, the fake investment group, and the fact that you’re both in over your heads with a professional con artist,» I replied, pouring her a cup of coffee. «What I don’t know is how much of this you were aware of versus how much Linda fed you in carefully crafted lies.»
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Ashley wrapped her hands around the mug like it was an anchor. «I knew we couldn’t afford the BMW. I knew the promotion story was a lie. But Linda was so convincing about the investment opportunity, and I was so scared about losing the house.» She trailed off, staring into her coffee.
«Ashley, I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to figure out how we clean up this mess before Linda destroys all of us.»
«Can it be cleaned up?» Ashley looked up at me with desperate hope. «Or are we completely screwed?»
«Well, that depends on how far you’re willing to go to make this right.»
Marcus leaned forward. «Mom, we’ll do anything. I mean it. Whatever it takes.»
I walked to my desk and pulled out a folder I’d been preparing for the last three days. «Good, because what I’m about to propose is going to require both of you to be better actors than you’ve ever been in your lives.»
I spread my plan across the coffee table. Printed emails, fake financial documents, and a timeline that would make Linda Chen very sorry she’d ever heard the name Dorothy Williams.
«Here’s what’s going to happen. Tomorrow, Marcus, you’re going to call Linda and tell her I’ve agreed to the investment proposal. You’re going to say I was initially resistant, but after seeing how happy she’d made you both, I’ve decided to trust her judgment.»
Ashley frowned. «But won’t she be suspicious if you suddenly change your mind?»
«Not if Marcus sells it right. Linda expects elderly people to be confused and changeable. She’ll chalk it up to typical senior behavior and congratulate herself on her patience paying off.» I pulled out the next set of documents.
«Then, Ashley, you’re going to arrange a meeting with Linda and her mysterious investment group. Tell her I want to meet them face-to-face before signing anything, that I’m old-fashioned that way.»
«But they don’t exist,» Marcus pointed out.
«Exactly, which means Linda is going to have to scramble to produce them. Or she’s going to have to admit there is no investment group and reveal her real plan.»
Ashley was studying the fake documents I’d prepared. «Dorothy, these look incredibly official. How did you…»
«I may be old, but I’m not technologically illiterate. Amazing what you can accomplish with a good printer and too much time on your hands.» I smiled. «Linda isn’t the only one who can forge convincing paperwork.»
Marcus picked up one of the fake bank statements showing dramatically inflated account balances. «Mom, what is all this supposed to accomplish?»
«It’s bait, sweetheart. Linda thinks I’m worth three-quarters of a million dollars. These documents suggest I’m actually worth closer to two million. When she sees these, her greed is going to override her caution.»
«And then what?»
I pulled out my phone and showed them the recording app. «Then we document everything. Every conversation. Every promise. Every illegal proposal. By the time we’re done, we’ll have enough evidence to send Linda Chen to prison for elder fraud, forgery, and conspiracy to commit theft.»
Ashley looked skeptical. «But won’t she be suspicious if we’re suddenly so cooperative?»
«Ashley, Linda has been playing a long game for months. She’s emotionally invested in this con succeeding. When people are that close to a big payoff, they tend to ignore warning signs that would normally make them cautious.»
