My Wife Just Died Of Alzheimer’s. Two Weeks Later, My Daughter Sued Me For $3.2 Million To Pay Off Her Fiancé’s Debts. How Do I Stop This Nightmare?

The registration date was 3 weeks before Josephine passed away. “Business address?” I leaned closer, reading the line Curtis was pointing to. “The same building as Sinclair Capital Management, same floor,” I noted.

“He created that company,” I said. “The pieces clicking together… Not just created, look at the incorporation documents,” Curtis replied. He pulled up another screen.

Lucien Sinclair was listed as the registered agent. “That’s fraud. Calculated fraud. He set this up before Joe died,” I observed. We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of it settling over us.

“We need to take this to Malcolm,” Curtis said. An hour later we sat in Malcolm’s office. He’d agreed to meet on a Saturday morning, which told me he understood the urgency.

He reviewed everything Curtis had found, taking detailed notes. “Curtis, how did you access some of this information?” Malcolm asked. “Through legal public record searches and some connections,” Curtis chose his words carefully.

“I can’t use illegally obtained evidence in court,” Malcolm warned. “I know. But you can use it to know where to search legally,” Curtis replied. Malcolm’s expression shifted, something like approval.

“Smart,” He said. He spread the documents across his desk, organizing them into categories. “This changes everything. Lucien isn’t just Lillian’s fiancé. He’s the architect,” He explained.

“She wants your estate. He needs it. Together they built a conspiracy,” He stated. Malcolm pulled out a legal pad and started drafting.

“I’m filing a motion to dismiss the fake creditor’s lien. I’ll include the corporate records; those are public. The registration timeline looks suspicious. The business address links directly to Lucian. And the fact that no equipment was actually delivered can be proven through June’s logs,” He planned. “I’ll file this Monday morning, and I’m sending a copy to the District Attorney’s office,” He added.

“The DA?” I asked. “Because this isn’t just a civil dispute anymore, Clay. What we’re looking at is fraud, possibly conspiracy to commit fraud. That’s criminal,” Malcolm answered. He looked at Curtis.

“Keep digging. Carefully. Legally,” He instructed. Curtis nodded. “What about the threats?” I asked.

“The vandalism, the letters?” I followed up. “That’s witness intimidation. Also criminal,” Malcolm replied. He turned to Curtis.

“Can you connect that SUV directly to Lucien?” He asked. “I’m working on it,” Curtis answered. We left Malcolm’s office as the morning sun climbed higher over Charleston.

Curtis walked beside me to the parking lot, both of us quiet. At my truck, Curtis turned to me. “They’re making mistakes now. Desperate people always do,” He said. I wanted to believe him, wanted to feel the confidence I heard in his voice, but desperate people also became dangerous.

Orchestrated Defamation

Three days after Curtis identified the SUV, Malcolm called me to his office. “My investigator found this,” He said, holding up a thick stack of printed screenshots. I sat across from his desk while he spread the documents out like evidence at a crime scene.

“Remember those rumors, the social media posts?” Malcolm asked. He tapped the papers. “They weren’t organic,” He revealed.

He showed me printouts of Facebook posts, each one timestamped and annotated. “My investigator traced the IP addresses. Different accounts, but they all originated from a single source initially then spread through networks,” He explained. The posts had appeared first in Charleston Community Group, Holy Trinity Church Parish, and Charleston Firefighters Network—places where I had roots, places where my reputation mattered.

“Very professional work,” Malcolm said. “Targeted specifically at your communities,” He added. He pulled out the investigator’s report.

The posts had been strategically timed, appearing within hours of court filings. The language analysis showed professional reputation management vocabulary. Then his investigator found the payments.

Malcolm slid a bank record across the desk: a wire transfer from Sinclair Capital Management. The recipient was TRP Investigations Consulting Services for $15,000. “TRP Investigations is run by Terry Ramsey,” Malcolm stated.

Malcolm opened the South Carolina private investigator licensing database on his laptop. “Terry Ramsay, licensed PI, Charleston. Background: former Charleston PD officer, 2001 to 2015. Current specialty listed as ‘reputation consulting,'” He read. “My investigator talked to some of Ramsay’s former clients. He specializes in ‘perception management,’ which is essentially reputation destruction,” He explained.

Malcolm showed me text messages obtained through legal discovery requests related to Lucien’s business dealings. The messages were dated 3 weeks ago, right after the emergency hearing. “Lucien to Terry: ‘Need reputation management on Clayton Merrick. Make it thorough,'” He read.