“How dare you?” Alexis screamed before I even got close. “How dare you do this to me?”
I stopped a few feet away, keeping my voice calm.
“Do what, Alexis? Claim what is rightfully mine?”
She came down the porch steps with heavy strides, shaking the papers in the air.
“This is a lie. You’re lying to try and steal what my father left me.”
“I’m not lying. Everything in those documents is true. Your father wrote everything down with witnesses before he died.”
George came closer, trying to look threatening.
“Miss Sophia, you don’t know what you’re getting into. We have very good lawyers. We’re going to destroy this ridiculous lawsuit.”
I looked at him with a calm that surprised me.
“Do what you think you need to, but the truth doesn’t change. The money you used was stolen, and you tricked me into taking my house. All of that is documented.”
“You have nothing!” Alexis yelled, tears of rage streaming down her face. “You’re a bitter old woman who won’t accept that I grew up, that I have my own life. You’re doing this for revenge.”
“Revenge?” I repeated, feeling my own anger beginning to rise. “Revenge? Because you gave me a choice between a nursing home and a paddock? Because you treated me like dirt for months? Because you stole my house by using my love for you against me?”
“I didn’t steal anything. You donated it. You signed the papers of your own free will.”
“After you tricked me, made me believe it was temporary. That’s called fraud, Alexis, and you know it.”
She lunged at me with such force that I thought she was going to hit me. George grabbed her arm.
“Calm down, honey. It won’t help.”
Alexis pulled away from him abruptly.
“You want the house? You want the money? You can keep it, but don’t you ever look me in the face again. Don’t you ever look for me again. For me, you died today.”
The words were like knives, each one piercing my heart. But I didn’t let her see my pain. I just responded in a firm voice.
“If that’s what you want, I accept. But one day, Alexis, you’re going to understand what you lost. And it won’t be the house or the money. It will be something that no money can buy.”
“What? Your self-sacrificing mother’s love? I’m sick of that story.”
She spat the words with such hatred that she barely seemed like my daughter.
“No,” I replied softly. “The opportunity to have someone who loved you unconditionally, someone who would have given their life for you. You lost that today. And unlike the house and the money, there’s no way to get that back.”
I turned and began walking away. I heard Alexis shouting something behind me, but I didn’t bother to make out the words. None of it mattered anymore. With each step, I was putting distance between myself and that life—away from the hurt, away from the version of me who had accepted being treated as if she were nothing.
Marcy was waiting by the gate. She had been hiding behind a tree, worried I might need support. When she spotted me, she rushed over and pulled me into a tight embrace. Only then did I let myself break. I cried harder than I had in years—cried for the daughter I had lost, for the illusion that had shattered, for the years of sacrifice that suddenly felt wasted.
But I also cried out of relief, because for the first time, I had chosen myself. I had finally said, “No more.”
The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind of forms, hearings, and statements. Mr. Carlos worked relentlessly, presenting every document and bit of evidence. Alexis and George hired top-tier lawyers, but the truth outweighed any polished argument. The fraudulent property transfer was proven—my signature had been given under the belief it was temporary, and there were witnesses to confirm it. The questionable origin of the inheritance money came up too, and Jim’s documents spoke loudly.
During all of this, Alexis never contacted me. A small part of me still wished she would come, acknowledge what she had done, and apologize. But she never did. The silence between us remained unbroken.
Three months after the case began, the judge gave his final decision. The property would be restored to me—the transfer had clearly been fraudulent. The inheritance was more complicated. Though Jim’s will had legal issues, the judge ruled that since Alexis had used the money without knowing it came from a crime, she wouldn’t have to return all of it.
A compromise was reached: Alexis would keep half of the inheritance, and the other half would be transferred to me. She also had to compensate me for using my property without permission. Altogether, I would receive about $120,000.
Mr. Carlos called me into his office to explain the outcome.
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