Chapter 4 - Shadows of the Past
The news hit me like a physical blow. Emergency protective custody. My brothers and sisters were being removed from the house.
“Where will they go?” I choked out, tears swelling in my eyes. “They’ll be terrified! Leo can’t sleep without his nightlight, and Elijah only drinks milk if it’s warmed up in the red mug!”
“Savannah, look at me,” Aunt Helena said, grabbing both of my hands and looking directly into my eyes. “I am not going to let those kids be split up and put into stranger foster homes. I have four spare bedrooms in this house. I’ve already contacted my lawyer. I am applying for emergency temporary kinship foster care for all of them today.”
Eleanor Vance nodded approvingly. “Helena, if your background check and home inspection clear—which I expect they will—we can process the emergency placement by this evening. But we have a larger issue to address.”
“What issue?” I asked, wiping my eyes.
Eleanor pulled a set of financial documents from her folder. “When my team entered the house, they found stack upon stack of unopened mail in the hallway. We found evidence that your mother has been engaging in severe legal and financial fraud.”
I blinked, confused. “Fraud?”
“Savannah,” Eleanor said, her voice turning sharp. “Do you know how your mother pays the mortgage on that six-bedroom house?”
“She said my dad left us a trust fund before he passed away,” I replied. “And she said she gets state assistance for the kids.”
Aunt Helena let out a bitter, angry laugh. “Trust fund? My brother didn't have a trust fund, Savannah. David was a mechanic who died eight years ago with twenty thousand dollars in debt and a small life insurance policy that Brenda burned through in six months!”
Eleanor set three court documents on the table.
“Your mother has been claiming state disability payments for three of your siblings by forging medical records, claiming they have severe physical disabilities that require round-the-clock home care,” Eleanor revealed. “She’s been collecting over four thousand dollars a month in state subsidies—money meant for their specialized medical care—while spending it on credit cards.”
I sat there, completely stunned. “She... she forged medical records?”
“It gets worse,” Eleanor continued, turning to the next page. “She took out three private loans using your father’s old social security number, and three days ago, she attempted to apply for a secondary mortgage line using your name and forged signature.”
My stomach churned. “In my name?”
“She was setting you up, Savannah,” Helena said, her eyes flashing with pure rage. “She knew you were getting older. She knew you were turning seventeen next year and might try to go to college. She was chaining you to her debt so you could never leave her!”
The realization felt like ice water poured down my spine. My mother didn't just want me as a free babysitter. She wanted me as her financial escape hatch. She was building a prison around my life, brick by brick, using forged signatures, fake medical claims, and emotional blackmail to ensure I would spend the rest of my youth paying for her lies.
“Why?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Why would she do that to her own daughter?”
“Because Brenda is a parasite, sweetie,” Aunt Helena said softly, sitting next to me and pulling me close. “She has been one her whole life. When our parents were alive, she used them. When your father was alive, she used him. And when he died, she looked at you—an eight-year-old girl who just wanted to make her mother happy—and decided you were going to be her lifelong servant.”
Eleanor Vance closed her folder with a loud snap.
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“The District Attorney’s office is already reviewing the evidence my field officers gathered today,” Eleanor said. “Between the child neglect charges, the forged medical records, and the financial fraud, your mother is facing serious criminal liability. But right now, my priority is bringing your brothers and sisters to a safe environment.”
Eleanor looked at Aunt Helena. “Helena, get the bedrooms ready. We’re bringing the children here at 5:00 PM.”
