Chapter 4
"I've already figured it out."
Cousin Emily froze for a second.
I handed her my phone.
"I used Dad's WhatsApp and found her status updates. She posted a photo of her kid's school: Eastside Academy in the Eastside District," I said.
"Private school," Cousin Emily commented.
"Yeah. Tuition's 27,000 dollars a year."
I hesitated for a second.
"When I wanted to go to an elite high school, Dad said it was too expensive and refused to pay the 27,000 dollars," I said.
Cousin Emily stayed silent.
After a moment, she picked up her pen.
"I'll start drafting the documents right now," she said.
Mom didn't say a word as we left the law firm.
When we got to the parking lot, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"What's wrong, Mom?" I asked.
"Thirty years," Mom said.
She gazed into the distance.
"Thirty years, and I never bought myself a decent piece of clothing. Every time, he'd say we didn't have any money," she continued.
Then she turned to look at me.
"573,000 dollars. He spent it all on someone else," she said.
"Mom, we'll get the money back," I said.
She shook her head.
"Money isn't what matters most," she said.
She took a deep breath.
"Thirty years. I gave him my best years," she said.
She didn't cry.
Her voice was steady.
"What he owes me isn't something money can pay back," she said.
I took her hand.
"So it's not just about the money," I said.
Mom looked at me.
"We're going to make him pay for everything," Mom said.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Dad headed back to work.
That was when I started putting my plan into action.
First step: transfer the property title.
During dinner, I mentioned offhand, "Dad, my coworker said that if there are two names on the property deed, you get 15% more compensation during redevelopment. Did you know that?"
Dad paused mid-bite.
"Really?" Dad looked up, surprised.
"Yeah, that's what happened to my coworker's family. Last year, their property went through redevelopment, and because they put his mom's name on the deed, they got over 67,000 dollars more in compensation," I said.
Over 67,000 dollars.
Dad's eyes lit up.
I knew exactly how he'd react.
"So should we put Mom's name on it too?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, it's just a paperwork thing. The more owners listed, the bigger the payout from the redevelopment authority," I said.
'Totally made that up,' I thought.
There was no such thing.
But Dad bought it.
Because he was greedy.
The next day, he brought Mom along to handle the paperwork.
Mom's name was added to the property deed.
Now, Mom was listed as a co-owner.
Dad was all smiles when he signed the papers.
He had no idea what that signature really meant.
Step two: move the money.
On the ninth day, Mom headed to the bank.
I tagged along.
She brought her ID, marriage certificate, and bank card, and withdrew 210,000 dollars from the joint account.
That was everything she'd managed to save all these years.
She thought there was over 330,000 dollars in the account.
Turns out, there was only 210,000 dollars.
Dad had already taken the rest.
The money went straight into Mom's new personal account.
Only Mom and I knew the password.
Step three: confirm Grace's identity.
On the tenth day, I took a day off and headed to Eastside District.
I waited outside Eastside Academy.
School let out at 4:30 PM.
I waited for about twenty minutes.
After a while, a boy stepped out of the school gate.
I spotted him instantly.
He looked like he did in the photo.
That chin? It was exactly like Dad's.
There was a woman standing next to him.
She looked to be in her forties, wearing a down jacket and carrying a designer bag.
They got into a white SUV.
I snapped a few photos.
Then I jotted down the license plate number.
When I got back, Cousin Emily helped me look into it.
The car was registered under Dad's name.
He actually had two cars in his name.
One was the old sedan we'd had at home for eight years.
The other was that white SUV, bought two years ago and registered under his name.
Mom was stuck driving that eight-year-old clunker.
Meanwhile, he'd bought a brand-new car for that woman.
Cousin Emily also looked into the house.
It was in Eastside District, a 960-square-foot apartment near Eastside Academy, bought in 2016.
The owner was John Carter.
Dad's name was on the deed.
Not hers.
Dad's name was on the deed.
He used our family's money to buy a house for that woman, and registered it under his own name.
"Cousin Emily," I asked, "that house counts as joint property too, right?"
"Yeah," Cousin Emily replied. "Since the money came from what they earned together, even if it's in Dad's name, it's still considered marital property."
"Alright," I said.
I pulled together all the info.
570,000 dollars had been transferred.
An apartment in Eastside District, right by the school.
A white SUV.
Fourteen years of messages.
Over three hundred screenshots.
All the evidence was ready.
The redevelopment agreement was set to be signed next week.
Time to spring the trap.