He would never be fully recovered, according to his doctors, but I was doing a solid job.
Suddenly, movement caught my attention from the second-floor window. A familiar figure stared at me for one second before hiding quickly.
But I knew who it was: Mark, my ex-husband. He was the man who’d cheated on me with his secretary three years ago.
The man Dad had called “worse than pond scum” when he found out.
What the hell was Mark doing in our house?
I couldn’t go back in, so I turned around, thinking about my options.
That’s when I saw our neighbor, Lucy, a nice older lady, across the street. She was pruning her rose bushes like she did every Tuesday.
I walked over to her, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Hey Lucy, have you noticed anything… odd about my dad lately?”
Lucy straightened up, wiping dirt from her gardening gloves.
“Oh honey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. That ex of yours has been coming around every single day while you were gone.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice.
“And yesterday, I saw him kissing your dad’s caregiver right on your front porch!
Bold as brass, they were.”
My whole body froze, but my mind was sharply putting all the pieces into place. Mark’s presence on the second floor coupled with Brenda’s weird smile at my dad’s outburst.
Although I’d never suspected anything from the caregiver, and I hadn’t seen my ex since our divorce, I knew they must be behind this. They must have said something to my father.
They might have broken the law somehow, too.
My body moved, and I pulled out my phone, dialing 911 as I walked back to my house.
“Yes, I need police at my house immediately. Some people have taken advantage of my elderly father, are currently invading his home, and may have done something worse.”
Then I marched back into the house.
To hell with waiting outside.
“YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH RIGHT NOW!” I shouted as I burst in and rushed up the stairs to the second floor. Mark and Brenda sprang apart on the hallway loveseat, lipstick smeared across both their faces.
But they didn’t feel guilty at all.
Instead, Mark’s familiar smirk appeared.
“Get out of my house, Sarah. You’re trespassing.”
“Your house?” I laughed, but it came out more like a sob. “This is my father’s house, and you know it.”
Dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his face twisted with confusion and anger.
“She’s trying to poison me, Mark!
She wants my house. You and Brenda told me the truth about her!”
“No, Dad, they’re lying to you!” I went back down the stairs, reaching for him, but Mark was faster and stepped between us.
“Get out of my way!” I told my lying ex, but he merely crossed his arms and smirked again.
Just then, police sirens wailed outside.
Mark’s smugness disappeared as he realized what I’d done, and I stepped by him to open the door.
Two officers walked in, and chaos erupted.
Dad began yelling the same things he had accused me of, and then he ran upstairs into his bedroom. He returned clutching her wooden jewelry box, his hands shaking so badly he almost dropped it.
“Look!
Look what she did!” He thrust the empty box at the officers.
“All of Martha’s jewelry. Gone! My wife’s precious things.” His voice cracked.
“Sarah took them to pawn them.
She wants my house too!”
“That’s not true, Dad. Please—”
“Don’t listen to her lies,” Mark cut in smoothly.
“We caught her selling the jewelry last month. Right, George?
Remember how upset you were when we showed you the pawn shop receipt?”
“Yes, yes!” Dad nodded frantically.
“They showed me proof. Sarah’s been stealing from me for months!”
Brenda placed her hand on Dad’s shoulder, her voice dripping with fake concern. “We’ve been trying to protect him, officers.
The poor man’s memory isn’t what it used to be, and she’s been taking advantage.
Last week, she tried to make him sign over his bank accounts.”
“That’s ridiculous!” I spun toward the officers. “I’ve been out of town for two weeks on a business trip.
They’re the ones who’ve been manipulating him! They must have sold something themselves!”
The cops didn’t know who to believe.
It was a lot of “he said, she said,” but my ex and his new woman didn’t know that I had one card left to play.
“I can prove that I’m not lying.
Officers, I installed security cameras in the house to monitor Dad’s health while I was away. I didn’t have time to check them during this trip because of work and because I thought I could trust his caregiver. But this footage might show you what’s really been happening.”
Mark’s smirk vanished, and Brenda’s face went white.
They had no idea, and boy, was I glad that I never told anyone.
We gathered around my laptop in the living room.
After searching and fast-forwarding a bit, I found what I needed. Mark and Brenda went into Dad’s room after he fell asleep on the couch one afternoon.
We saw how they took Mom’s jewelry pieces.
Brenda even tried on her pearl necklace, laughing as she modeled in front of Dad’s mirror.
“Look how gorgeous this will look on me once the old man kicks the bucket,” Brenda’s voice rang clear through the speakers. “We’ll finish pawning these things, sell the house, and live like kings.”
There was nothing else to say.
The officers quickly handcuffed them.
As they were led away, Dad was confused, but I slowly explained what had happened.
Finally, he sank into his armchair and placed his face in his hands in shame.
“Sarah?” His voice was small, like a child’s. “Did I… did I really try to throw you out?”
I knelt beside him, taking his weathered hand in mine. “It’s okay, Dad.
They manipulated you.
They took advantage while I was gone.”
“They said… you… they were protecting me from you.” Tears filled his eyes. “They had papers for me to sign next week.
Something about the house…”
“A transfer of ownership,” I realized with horror, my hand flying to my mouth. They’d nearly succeeded in stealing everything from us.
I came back just in time.
“Don’t worry, Dad. Nothing like that will EVER happen again.”
He nodded but turned quiet. A few minutes later, I brought him a cup of tea, but he’d fallen asleep.
Wanting to clear my head, I went out and sat on the stairs of our front porch, listening to the crickets.
The next day, I dealt with the police statements.
I also changed the locks and Lucy recommended a new caretaker whom she trusted with her whole heart.
But I made it clear at work that for the foreseeable future, I wouldn’t be able to go on extended business trips. It was too dangerous.
My father’s well-being and safety came first. He was my only family left.
🤔🤔🤔
Source: amomama
