My Husband Left Me With His Dying Mother For A “business Trip,” But I Found Photos Of Him In Miami With Another Woman. He Thinks He’s Inheriting Everything, But My Mother-in-law Left It All To Me. How Do I Break The News?
The Final Showdown
Back home, I got to work finding the last piece of the puzzle. According to Natalie, Michael had a secret compartment behind the bookshelf in his old home office. I called a locksmith, telling him I had lost the key. After nearly an hour, he managed to open the complex electronic lock.
Inside was a tightly shut metal box. I used a crowbar to force it open. Inside was a document. It was a will, but not my mother-in-law’s. It was a fake one Michael had commissioned from his lawyer.
In it, Elizabeth left all her assets, including the town property and the money Michael suspected she had, to her only son. What chilled my blood was the date on the document. On that day, my mother-in-law was in a deep coma in the hospital, connected to machines.
How could a person in a coma get up and sign a will? The signature was a shaky scrawl, but when compared to old letters from my mother-in-law, the forgery was obvious. Michael had guided her hand, or worse, he had faked the consent of a dying woman to legitimize his greed.
Tears of rage streamed down my cheeks. In his mother’s final moments, while I was watching over her through the nights, he was busy plotting how to steal her last breath. Michael’s lack of scruples had hit rock bottom.
I photographed every page and sent a copy to my own lawyer. This is proof of forgery and fraud. I want to prepare a lawsuit not just to defend myself, but to put him in jail if he dares to bother me again.
My lawyer responded immediately: The evidence is irrefutable. With this and the contents of the flash drive, he has no escape. The law will not let such a soulless being go unpunished.
Michael came looking for me one afternoon. But this time he was not alone; he was accompanied by a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a leather briefcase, but with a shrewd, shifty look. They pounded on the door.
I opened it, and before I could say anything, Michael barged in aggressively. He pointed a finger at me, hissing, “You are very clever, Sophia. You tricked me into signing that damned agreement. Do you think you are going to get away with the old woman’s $150,000 so easily? I have already checked the information on the savings account.”
The other man, his lawyer, adjusted his glasses. “Good afternoon. I am Mr. Perez’s legal representative. My client alleges that he was deceived and coerced into signing the asset division agreement. We request its annulment and a new division of the inheritance.”
I smiled bitterly and invited them to sit, not offering them any water. “Coerced? He is a grown man in his right mind who signed with his own hand before a judge. Now that he sees the money, he wants to back out?”
Michael slammed his fist on the table. “What game are you playing? If you do not share the money, I will post on social media that you had lovers and abused my mother to death. I will get you fired. I will make it so you can never get back on your feet.”
He started showing me screenshots of manipulated messages where innocent conversations with co-workers were twisted into innuendos and my complaints of exhaustion were turned into curses wishing for his mother’s death. Michael’s depravity surpassed my imagination.
I no longer felt anger, just a deep disgust. The man I had shared my life with was a demon willing to trample on his ex-wife’s honor and his mother’s memory for money.
Justice Served
Silently, I activated the recorder I had prepared under the table. I let him talk, let him spew all his garbage so he could tie the noose around his own neck. When he was finished, I went to my room and got the laptop and all the documents I had gathered.
I placed the small flash drive on the glass table. “Before you sue me for abuse or fraud, I suggest you watch this. Here is all the evidence of Mr. ‘Fresh’ Perez’s embezzlement, his money laundering through betting, and most importantly, the proof that he forged my mother’s will.”
I pushed the fake will toward them, and next to it, a copy of the medical report proving that on the date of the signature, my mother-in-law was in a deep coma.
“Forgery of documents and fraud… the lawyer present here will know better than I how many years in prison that carries. And you, Mr. Perez, how do you think the CEO of your company will react when he receives the recording of you planning to embezzle from the company?”
Michael’s face turned as white as a sheet. The pale lawyer picked up the medical report and looked at it in horror. He realized he had gotten involved in a serious criminal case.
“Mr. Perez, you did not tell me any of this.” He quickly gathered his things. “This has signs of a felony. I cannot participate. I have to protect my license.”
The lawyer rushed out, leaving Michael alone, cowering like a cornered rat. His arrogance had vanished, leaving only fear. “What are you going to do, Sophia?” he stammered. “Are you going to send me to prison?”
“After everything, we were husband and wife.” I looked at him without a shred of compassion. “Husband and wife? That relationship died the day you abandoned your mother to go with your mistress. You have two options: either you disappear from my life forever and never open your mouth again, or I send all of this to the police right now.”
Michael staggered to his feet. He knew if I spoke, his life was over. He would not only lose his job and reputation, but prison was waiting for him. He headed for the door, defeated.
