Chapter 20 #2
Yeah, right.
“Be that as it may be,” the judge said. “We can go ahead and address that, since we’re all here, after this other matter is settled.” He looked at the papers in front of him. “What other evidence do you have, Mrs. Montgomery?”
They spoke at length about all that they had, and Jedidiah all but eviscerated them.
But the best part of the entire hearing was when Jedidiah’s assistant came in and handed him something.
Jedidiah read it and sighed. “I’d like to add this to evidence, sir.”
The judge took it, read over it, then glanced quickly at my mother and her lawyer. “Would you like to explain this, Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Explain what?” Mrs. Montgomery looked it over, her face going so pale it would’ve been comical had we not been in the situation we were in.
My mother’s lawyer looked over at her with shock and disgust on her face before she was able to clear it.
Clearly, my mother’s lawyer hated her and saw her true colors.
That was nice.
Though her lawyer tried to speak quietly, she was still loud enough for us all to hear when she said, “You’ve already gotten one insurance payout for him? One that was for Georgina Lorena Cain of Bear Pass, Montana?”
My mother’s mouth formed into a little O.
“I thought it was mine seeing as it came to me and…”
“Oh, and there’s more to add to the evidence.
” The assistant had come in at another point while I was watching my mother try to explain her way out of this.
“This explains that prior to his death, Georgina Cain senior had the mail forwarded to her address in Hollywood. Including Mr. Cain’s mail and Holly Cain’s mail. ”
“Mr. Medina,” the lawyer sighed. “Do you think you might have anything else?”
“With the speed in which this trial was announced, I wasn’t able to prepare like I usually am,” Jedidiah explained. “I have quite a bit of information coming, and a lot of it doesn’t look good for Ms. Georgina Kate Cain.”
Geez, the exact same name thing was confusing.
“I don’t need to hear any more about why we came here today,” the judge said.
“Georgina,” he growled. “Why would you come squabble about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars when you’ve already stolen the other life insurance check meant for your daughter valued at…
” He looked at the paper that Jedidiah had produced for him. “Half a million dollars?”
My mother had nothing to say.
“You are now required to give that half a million back, with a thirty percent interest for the months that you’ve had it that Ms. Holly Cain could’ve been accruing interest on it.
In the meantime, you are expected to pay Holly’s lawyer fees, as well as a hundred thousand dollars in emotional damage fees for pain and suffering.
” He placed his papers down and leveled my mother with a look that was clearly meant to be intimidating.
Which, might I add, it very well was. “As for the back child support owed,” he said.
“Seeing as your daughter is the sole beneficiary of Mr. Cain’s estate, you will pay her back the back child support owed by you.
Your wages will be garnished until it’s paid back.
Your bank accounts will be emptied to also help pay for this.
Savings and checking. You have six months to get this paid back, or you’ll be back in my court. ”
The door closed a third time, and I looked to see Jedidiah’s assistant rushing in, a huge, winning smile on her face that clearly said, “Gotcha!”
“What now?” The judge held out his hand to the assistant.
She brought the papers directly to the judge.
The judge read over the papers then looked over to me.
“Ma’am,” he said. “Your house burned down when you were young?”
“Right after my mother left us, kind of,” I said.
“The barn office caught fire. The office that my mother used when she’d still lived with us.
An antique lamp had shorted out and caught the whole barn on fire.
Before firefighters were able to get it under control, it’d spread to the back half of the house.
They were able to get it before it’d destroyed everything. ”
“Do you know if you had insurance at the time?” he asked.
“Well, I know we did. Because my dad fought with an insurance adjuster for months because they’d said that they’d issued a check and they had…” I looked over at my mother in shock.
She was looking down at her hands, but her eyes were wide and her teeth were biting savagely into her lip.
She didn’t.
I stood up and turned to her, shock and anger warring in my veins.
“We couldn’t afford to eat,” I said to her.
“I had to work myself to the bone trying to run a cattle operation on my own at the age of twelve,” I hissed.
She didn’t look over.
“I got less than four hours of sleep a night for years,” I accused. “The first time I slept through the night was just a few weeks ago when I moved into an apartment above a barn.”
Denver hissed in a breath at that news.
“Dad’s cancer treatments were killer. He couldn’t do anything. I had to help him to the bathroom. I didn’t even graduate school the right way! I had to work with my teachers at night to get my credits!”
Still, my mother didn’t look up.
“I can’t believe you,” I whispered. “What kind of vicious, cruel, cold-hearted woman are you?” I accused. “You want to know why I don’t like to go by your stupid name? Because I think you’re a snake, and I don’t like being associated with snakes.”
My mother did look up at that.
“That name is perfect,” she hissed. “Iconic!”
“If I could change it right here and now, I would,” I growled.
“I can help with that when I’m all done here,” the judge offered. “Mrs. Cain, you are also ordered to pay back the insurance check, with interest. That’s a sum of four hundred and ten thousand dollars. May I ask, how did you manage to get that check instead of Mr. Cain?”
My mother stayed silent.
“If you don’t want to spend the night in jail, and have your mugshot shared all over social media, you’ll be answering,” the judge ordered.
“It was still in my name. I heard about the fire, and I called and changed our mailing address,” she muttered. “But it was in my name!”
“It wasn’t your house.” The judge shook his head in disgust. “Get out of my courtroom. And pay back what you owe, or you really will see the inside of a jail cell. Fraud’s illegal, and I’ll let your ass fry if you ever make it back into my courtroom for any reason.”
My mother got up with a flourish.
The moment she stomped out of the room, her lawyer close on her heels, the judge turned to me. “So, since we’re already here, what is your new name?”
I went with Holly Cantrell Cain.
I thought I was on top of the world when I walked out of that courtroom.
Turns out, I wasn’t near the top.
Until Denver Windsor kissed me.