Amanda hung up and turned around.
For a split second, her smile disappeared.
« Mom? » she said, getting up too quickly. « You came home early. »
I picked up one of the papers with a trembling hand. « What is it? »
She glanced at the documents, then at me. His expression changed, not to express guilt, but to express calculation.
« It’s just paperwork, » she says lightly. « You don’t have to worry. »
« Papers that declare that I am mentally incapacitated? » My voice broke. « Papers that put my house in your name? »
She sighed, annoyed. « You’re emotional. Aunt Linda has just died. That’s precisely why we have to take care of things now. »
The play turned on itself.
I then understood that it was not impulsive. It wasn’t confusion. It was planned.
I took another document and recognized the signature at the bottom. A doctor I had never met. A falsified medical certificate. My name was in a handwriting that was not mine.
« You were the one who falsified this, » I whispered.
Amanda crossed her arms. « I did what I had to do. »
Something in me hardened.
I had buried my sister that morning. And now I was staring at my daughter—laughing, calm, prepared—who was about to bury me in turn.
I asked Amanda to sit down. She refused. That was enough for me.
« It’s for your own good, » she said, pacing my room as if it already belonged to her. « You’re getting older. We forget things. Home is too much responsibility. »
I laughed once, curtly. « You mean it’s precious. »
She stopped pacing. « It’s convenient. »
I went downstairs, the documents still in hand, and she followed me, her tone oscillating between defensive and condescending. At the kitchen table, I spread out the papers and photographed each page with my phone.
« What are you doing? » she asked curtly.
« Protect myself. »
She sneered. « No one will believe you more than me. I have already consulted a lawyer. »
This sentence made my blood run cold more than anything else.
I called my lawyer, the same one who had helped me revise my will years before. When I explained to him what I had in my hands, his voice tensed.
« Don’t leave these documents unattended with her, » he said. « And don’t sign anything. »
Amanda listened from across the table, her confidence starting to crumble.
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