{"id":15171,"date":"2026-09-20T20:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=15171"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:31:11","slug":"part-13-teresa-faced-the-trust-accounting-at-last-but-her-explanation-for-the-missing-money-forced-valeria-to-confront-her-own-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=15171","title":{"rendered":"PART 13 \u2013 Teresa Faced the Trust Accounting at Last, but Her Explanation for the Missing Money Forced Valeria to Confront Her Own Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Samuel Ortega did not let me take the trust accounting home immediately.<\/p>\n<p>He said there were too many figures, too many transactions, too many assumptions still being tested.<\/p>\n<p>I told him I did not care.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted every page.<\/p>\n<p>He gave me a copy.<\/p>\n<p>The report was seventy-three pages long.<\/p>\n<p>That night, after Mateo fell asleep, I sat at the narrow shelter desk and read until the numbers blurred.<\/p>\n<p>The theft was not one large transfer.<\/p>\n<p>That would have been easier to understand.<\/p>\n<p>Instead the money had leaked away in careful amounts over six years.<\/p>\n<p>Mortgage payments recorded but never forwarded.<\/p>\n<p>Maintenance charges that had no corresponding receipts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmergency repairs\u201d billed to the household twice.<\/p>\n<p>Property-tax contributions collected from me even in years the taxes had been paid from another account.<\/p>\n<p>Cash withdrawals.<\/p>\n<p>Transfers.<\/p>\n<p>Small electronic payments.<\/p>\n<p>The pattern was worse than a single act because it required repetition.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa had chosen it month after month.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes week after week.<\/p>\n<p>I kept seeing my own handwriting on old envelopes.<\/p>\n<p>Utilities.<\/p>\n<p>Taxes.<\/p>\n<p>Roof.<\/p>\n<p>Insurance.<\/p>\n<p>I had handed her money believing I was helping us remain housed.<\/p>\n<p>She had accepted it while threatening to put us out.<\/p>\n<p>At two in the morning, I found a transaction that stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>Five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Transferred three years earlier to a company called Calder\u00f3n Renovations.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the year.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa told me the foundation needed emergency work.<\/p>\n<p>I had taken extra appointments at the salon for four months.<\/p>\n<p>Mateo had needed a new winter coat that season.<\/p>\n<p>I bought one secondhand.<\/p>\n<p>The report noted no permit.<\/p>\n<p>No contractor invoice.<\/p>\n<p>No inspection.<\/p>\n<p>No evidence that Calder\u00f3n Renovations had performed any work on the house.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s registered address belonged to someone I recognized.<\/p>\n<p>My brother-in-law\u2019s cousin.<\/p>\n<p>I sat perfectly still.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria\u2019s husband, Andr\u00e9s, had always presented himself as the responsible one.<\/p>\n<p>The man with the steady job.<\/p>\n<p>The man who helped Teresa \u201chandle paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He had been at the dinner when Mateo was hit.<\/p>\n<p>He had lowered his glass and looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, his silence had seemed cowardly.<\/p>\n<p>Now I wondered whether it had also been informed.<\/p>\n<p>I called Samuel the moment morning came.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCalder\u00f3n Renovations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat company is connected to Andr\u00e9s\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Valeria receive money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still have no direct transfer into her account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. It isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do we know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeveral payments went to entities associated with Andr\u00e9s\u2019s cousin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor real work?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome may have been legitimate. Some records are missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Andr\u00e9s authorize anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re checking signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Valeria know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer lasted less than an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria called me at nine-thirty.<\/p>\n<p>Her voice was sharp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell the police about Andr\u00e9s?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why did they ask for his financial records?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause his cousin\u2019s company received trust money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Long enough that I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cValeria?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>No makeup.<\/p>\n<p>No handbag.<\/p>\n<p>No careful composure.<\/p>\n<p>She sat in the shelter lobby and pushed her phone toward me.<\/p>\n<p>A photograph of a bank statement filled the screen.<\/p>\n<p>There were deposits into an account in Andr\u00e9s\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>Several matched dates in the trust report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long have you known?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTen minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he handed it over?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her mouth tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said there was nothing. So I checked the old joint-account archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoint?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe closed it two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She enlarged the image.<\/p>\n<p>Several transfers had come from Calder\u00f3n Renovations.<\/p>\n<p>Not enormous.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Andr\u00e9s say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat his cousin paid him referral fees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what referrals?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe couldn\u2019t explain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria\u2019s hands were shaking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Mom handled everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClara.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know what that sounds like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She flinched but did not retreat.<\/p>\n<p>For once, I was too tired to soften the truth for her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Andr\u00e9s know Mom was using Mateo\u2019s trust money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know there was a trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he knew Juli\u00e1n had structured something around the mortgage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked through the lobby window.<\/p>\n<p>People crossed the parking lot carrying grocery bags and backpacks.<\/p>\n<p>Normal lives again.<\/p>\n<p>Always surrounding us while ours rearranged itself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he take money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria whispered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But her face suggested she feared an answer.<\/p>\n<p>Later that morning, Detective Vega called both Valeria and Andr\u00e9s for interviews.<\/p>\n<p>Andr\u00e9s brought an attorney.<\/p>\n<p>That fact alone sent my sister into a new kind of silence.<\/p>\n<p>By afternoon, he admitted receiving payments.<\/p>\n<p>He denied knowing the funds originated from Mateo\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n<p>His explanation was that Teresa paid him for \u201cproperty management assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat assistance?\u201d I asked Vega.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he helped negotiate contractors, insurance renewals and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough to justify the amount?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is being examined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much total?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vega gave me the figure.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly twenty thousand dollars over several years.<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Valeria know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo evidence so far.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAndr\u00e9s claims she did not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost hated him more for that.<\/p>\n<p>If he was telling the truth, he had let his wife unknowingly defend a household partly supported by money taken from her nephew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does Teresa say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says every payment was authorized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe claims the trust\u2019s guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My anger flashed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the forged signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat issue remains central.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCentral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vega waited.<\/p>\n<p>I calmed myself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinancial crimes investigators are reconstructing every transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is civil, primarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel handled that part.<\/p>\n<p>He asked me to come to his office the next day.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria came too.<\/p>\n<p>She had spent the night at a hotel with Dami\u00e1n.<\/p>\n<p>Andr\u00e9s remained at their house.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou left him?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTemporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes he know you\u2019re here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat you\u2019re turning everyone against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>She gave a humorless smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told him maybe everyone should stop doing things worth turning against.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like a sentence she could not have spoken a week earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel spread the trust accounting across his conference table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe important point is this: Mateo\u2019s trust is owed a substantial amount.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much is recoverable?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Teresa?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrimarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Andr\u00e9s?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly, depending on what investigators establish regarding his knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mortgage debt also remains enforceable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the figure at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I enforce it, what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially, foreclosure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria looked at me sharply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom loses the house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel raised one hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot immediately. There are options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat options?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepayment plan. Sale. Refinance. Settlement. Transfer of equity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransfer to whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Mateo could end up owning part of the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough the trust, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur childhood home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegally, sentiment does not erase debt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I watched her.<\/p>\n<p>A week earlier, that sentence might have started an argument between us.<\/p>\n<p>Now she sounded tired rather than defensive.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel slid another document forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is one complication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Ernesto died, he executed an amendment to his estate plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither Valeria nor I spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears he intended his half-interest in the property to pass equally to both daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom always said Dad left everything to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe became record owner of the property after his death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel opened a copy of the deed history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a transfer document filed shortly after Ernesto died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the signature.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>Then another.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not Dad\u2019s signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can you tell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe never signed Ernesto R. Robles like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She pointed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe always wrote Ernesto Rafael Robles on legal papers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat discrepancy is one reason I asked you both here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse climbed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think Mom forged Dad\u2019s signature too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the transfer requires investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A cold sensation moved through me.<\/p>\n<p>The trust fraud had started after Juli\u00e1n died.<\/p>\n<p>But this suggested Teresa\u2019s habit of rewriting ownership might have begun earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was this filed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel gave us the date.<\/p>\n<p>Eleven days after my father\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered those days only in fragments.<\/p>\n<p>Coffee.<\/p>\n<p>Casseroles.<\/p>\n<p>People sitting in our living room.<\/p>\n<p>My mother answering condolences with perfect composure.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria arranging flowers.<\/p>\n<p>Me finding Juli\u00e1n asleep in a chair with toddler Mateo on his chest.<\/p>\n<p>No one had been watching deeds.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Ernesto\u2019s amendment is valid and the later transfer was not, Teresa may not have owned one hundred percent of the house when the mortgage arrangement was made.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that change?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially a great deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria stared at the document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy half?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly an ownership interest belonging to each of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat back.<\/p>\n<p>The house was no longer merely collateral tied to Mateo\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n<p>It might also contain an inheritance Teresa had kept from both daughters.<\/p>\n<p>My mother had spent years saying the same sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Remember whose house you live in.<\/p>\n<p>I suddenly wondered whether it had ever been entirely hers.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI signed papers after Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My head turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat papers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel became very still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old were you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Teresa say they were?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEstate paperwork. Utilities. Insurance. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you read them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt anger rise, then stopped it.<\/p>\n<p>At twenty-four, Valeria still believed our mother handled important things because she knew best.<\/p>\n<p>At thirty-something, I had still believed versions of the same lesson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould one of them have transferred your share?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel said, \u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria pressed her hand against her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to find everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stood suddenly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI kept Dad\u2019s old briefcase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt my house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not alter or destroy anything inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence came out sharper than she intended.<\/p>\n<p>The room went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel merely nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria left to retrieve the briefcase with a police financial investigator present.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were tax records, insurance papers, correspondence, and an envelope bearing our father\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>For my girls.<\/p>\n<p>It had never been opened.<\/p>\n<p>The seal was intact.<\/p>\n<p>Detective Vega called us back to the station.<\/p>\n<p>A lawyer from the financial unit observed while Valeria opened it.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was a photocopy of the estate amendment Samuel had found.<\/p>\n<p>And a handwritten note from Ernesto.<\/p>\n<p>My daughters should each have twenty-five percent of the house. Teresa keeps her half. Neither girl should ever feel that marriage, hardship, or disagreement can make her homeless from the family property.<\/p>\n<p>I read the sentence twice.<\/p>\n<p>Marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Hardship.<\/p>\n<p>Disagreement.<\/p>\n<p>It sounded as though my father had anticipated exactly the kind of control Teresa later used.<\/p>\n<p>There was more.<\/p>\n<p>If Teresa needs to mortgage her half, that is her decision. Clara\u2019s and Valeria\u2019s shares are not to secure her debts without their signed consent.<\/p>\n<p>My hands began shaking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe mortgaged the whole house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel nodded grimly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf these documents are valid, that may have been improper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valeria whispered, \u201cDad knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnew what?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Mom used the house to control people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one answered.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom of the envelope lay one final sheet.<\/p>\n<p>A list of important documents.<\/p>\n<p>One line had been circled.<\/p>\n<p>Original deed and estate papers stored in safe-deposit box jointly accessible to Teresa and attorney M. Salas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is M. Salas?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel was already searching through the estate file.<\/p>\n<p>Then he stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMateo Salas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name meant nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAttorney?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill practicing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Detective Vega checked.<\/p>\n<p>A few minutes later she looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we talk to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vega\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has already spoken to investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout my father?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked from me to Valeria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says Teresa came to him twelve days after Ernesto\u2019s death and asked him to destroy the original estate amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went utterly still.<\/p>\n<p>Valeria whispered, \u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Ernesto had specifically instructed him never to alter or destroy it without both daughters present.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt something in my chest release.<\/p>\n<p>For once, someone had refused Teresa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill in legal storage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat changes the property case significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Vega was not finished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSalas also kept notes from his final meeting with Ernesto.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat notes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She turned the page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father told him he believed Teresa had already forged his signature once before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA loan application.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fraud did not begin with Juli\u00e1n.<\/p>\n<p>It did not begin with Mateo.<\/p>\n<p>It may not even have begun with us understanding that there was a problem.<\/p>\n<p>It had been there while my father was alive.<\/p>\n<p>And suddenly the house at the center of everything no longer looked like Teresa\u2019s last possession.<\/p>\n<p>It looked like the oldest piece of evidence.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=15172\">Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Ernesto\u2019s Lawyer Produced the Original Deed, and One Hidden Clause Meant Teresa Had Never Owned the Power She Used Against Us<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Samuel Ortega did not let me take the trust accounting home immediately. He said there were too many figures, too many transactions, too many assumptions still being tested. I told &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15227,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15171\/revisions\/15227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}