Chapter 2
Marcella met Rebecca at the county recorder’s office that afternoon.
The recorded deed looked convincing.
Her full legal name.
Correct property description.
Correct parcel numbers.
Correct marital-status statement.
A signature resembling hers.
Notarization.
Recording stamp.
Nothing crude.
Nothing obviously fake.
Marcella read it twice.
“I never signed this.”
Rebecca pointed to the acknowledgment.
“Do you know the notary?”
“No.”
Name:
Jennifer Malloy.
Mobile notary.
Thirty-three years old.
Office address in a nearby suburb.
The recorded deed transferred Lake Mercer Estate to:
Adrian Bellini and Vanessa Cole, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.
Four months before the wedding.
Marcella looked at Rebecca.
“If I supposedly gave them the house in May, why would Adrian expect another deed tonight?”
“Good question.”
The title search had another answer.
Three weeks after the recorded transfer, Adrian and Vanessa had mortgaged the estate.
Lender:
Meridian Private Credit.
Original principal:
$3.4 million.
Marcella went very still.
“They borrowed against my house.”
“According to the records, they borrowed against property the records say belonged to them.”
“Do they?”
“That is now disputed.”
Rebecca continued.
The mortgage remained outstanding.
Current balance:
Roughly $3.1 million.
Marcella looked at the lake-estate photographs in the file.
Her late husband had bought the original cottage twenty-nine years earlier.
Marcella expanded it slowly.
One room at a time.
The boathouse.
Guest wing.
Stone terrace.
She had raised Adrian there every summer.
She had planned to hand the house to him because she believed it was the one place in the family not attached to business, rank, or obligation.
Apparently Adrian had already attached debt to it.
“Where did the money go?”
“We’re tracing it.”
“Did Meridian know the wedding deed existed?”
“Not sure yet.”
“Did Meridian meet me?”
“No.”
“Call me?”
“No.”
“Verify the transfer with my lawyer?”
“No.”
Rebecca closed the title file.
“They relied on the recorded deed and title insurance.”
Marcella’s eyes narrowed.
“Who issued title insurance?”
“Crestmark Title.”
“Who handled the closing?”
Rebecca turned another page.
Marcella recognized the law firm immediately.
Delaney, Price & Cole.
Cole.
Vanessa’s maiden name.
“Her family?”
“Senior partner Thomas Cole is Vanessa’s uncle.”
Marcella stared at the page.
The recorded deed.
The mortgage.
The lender.
The title company.
May you like
And a closing lawyer related to the bride.
A wedding gift had somehow become a commercial transaction months before the wedding even happened.
