My Daughter Tried To Institutionalize Me To Steal My Life Savings. Little Does She Know, I Secretly Own The Mansion She Lives In. Who Is Getting Evicted Now?
The Morning Revelation
The sun rose over South Boston with a pale wintry light. I was already awake. I stood in my kitchen, the aroma of strong black coffee filling the air. I was dressed in a charcoal gray Italian wool suit, a garment I hadn’t worn since I accepted the National Infrastructure Award in D.C. 5 years ago. It fit perfectly. I tightened my tie—a deep crimson silk—and checked my reflection.
At exactly 7 a.m., my phone rang. It was Richard.
“Good morning, Richard,”
I said.
“Tell me what you found.”
“Joseph,”
Richard’s voice was breathless.
“I have the title report for 124 Crestwood Drive. I had my clerk pull the physical deed from the registry archives just to be sure because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on the screen.”
“And?”
I asked, though a deep, dormant memory was already beginning to stir in the back of my mind.
“The property isn’t in Michael’s name,”
Richard said.
“It never was. And it’s not in Sarah’s name either. The deed lists the owner as a corporate entity: Catalyst Holdings LLC.”
I closed my eyes and let out a long, slow breath. Catalyst Holdings. I hadn’t heard that name in 15 years. It was a shell company I had formed in Nevada back in the late ’90s specifically to hold assets that I wanted to keep separate from my main engineering liabilities.
“Who is the signatory for Catalyst Holdings, Richard?”
I asked.
“You are,”
Richard replied, his voice tinged with awe.
“It’s you, Joseph. You own the house. You have owned it since 2008.”
The memory flooded back with crystal clarity. 15 years ago, Sarah had come to me pregnant with Mia, crying in my kitchen. Michael had blown their savings on a failed restaurant venture. They were facing eviction. They needed a home. I couldn’t just give them cash; I knew Michael would burn through it. So I bought the house in Wellesley. I bought it through the LLC to protect it from Michael’s creditors. I told them I had arranged a rental for them through a wealthy client of mine who needed house sitters. I had drafted a lease agreement—a tenancy at will. The rent was set at $1 per year.
“I remember now,”
I said, my voice cold.
“I set it up so they would have a roof over their heads. I wanted them to have dignity. I wanted them to feel like it was their home. So I never reminded them. I never checked up on it. I just let them live there.”
“They forgot,”
Richard said.
“Joseph, they have lived there so long, playing the part of the wealthy suburbanites, that they actually forgot they don’t own the bricks they are standing on. They genuinely believe it is their asset.”
“They forgot because I allowed them to forget,”
I corrected him.
“I enabled their delusion. I let them play house in my mansion while I lived in a shack. All to protect their fragile egos. The irony was so thick it was almost suffocating.”
“What is the status of the lease?”
“It is a standard tenancy at will,”
Richard explained.
“Because the rent is nominal—$1 a year—and there is no fixed term, the law views them essentially as guests. You don’t need a complex reason to evict them. You just need to terminate the tenancy.”
“Draft it,”
I commanded.
“Draft the notice to quit. I want them out. Not in 6 months. Not in 90 days. I want the 30-day notice served today. Cite breach of contract. Cite conduct detrimental to the property owner.”
“Conduct detrimental?”
Richard asked.
“That is a bit vague.”
“Attempted kidnapping and fraud against the landlord seems pretty detrimental to me.”
“Just draft it. I want that paper in my hand when they walk into your office.”
“Understood. And Joseph, the other matter—the debt. Did you buy it?”
“Yes. We wired the funds to Omega Capital at 4:00 a.m. They were happy to unload a distressed asset. We bought the note for 90 cents on the dollar. You are now the sole lien holder on Michael Miller’s personal debts. You own the paper on the 1.2 million he owes.”
“Does he know?”
“Not yet. Omega Capital agreed to keep the transfer quiet until we notify the debtor. As far as Michael knows, the sharks are still circling. He doesn’t know the shark has been replaced by a Leviathan.”
