I’m a widow with a 7-year-old son, working day and night just to give him the basics. Bills and debt follow me like a shadow. Since Mark died three years ago, it’s been just me and Leo against the world.
A month ago, I ran into my late husband’s mom—the same woman who cut us off completely after his death. She was wearing designer clothes and driving a luxury car, which was strange since she’d always worked as a cashier and claimed she was “broke” whenever we asked for help with Mark’s funeral costs.
When I asked where the money came from, she snapped, “None of your business,” and stormed off, leaving me standing in the grocery store parking lot with a cart full of discount noodles and a heavy heart.
I let it go—until a few days ago, when I accidentally found out the money actually belonged to my son.
It happened when I received a strange letter in the mail from a life insurance company I had never heard of. It was a “final notice” regarding a policy audit. Confused, I called the number.
“I think you have the wrong person,” I told the agent. “My husband didn’t have life insurance. We checked everything when he passed.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Ma’am, according to our records, a payout of $750,000 was released two months after Mr. Harmer’s death. The beneficiary was listed as his son, Leo, with you as the trustee.”
My knees went weak. “What? I never received a dime.”
“The funds were deposited into a joint account under the name Rania Harmer and Janice Harmer.”
Janice. My mother-in-law.
The room spun. I drove straight to the bank the agent mentioned. After hours of pleading and showing Mark’s death certificate and my ID, the manager finally pulled up the records. There it was. My signature—forged—authorizing the transfer of the entire amount into Janice’s personal offshore account.
She hadn’t just won the lottery; she had stolen my husband’s final gift to his son. She had watched us struggle to buy shoes for school while she was buying luxury handbags with money meant for her own grandson.
I didn’t confront her this time. Instead, I went straight to the police and a lawyer.
Yesterday morning, Janice was arrested for fraud and theft. The look on her face when the officers handcuffed her outside her new luxury condo was priceless. She tried to scream that she “deserved” it for raising Mark, but nobody was listening.
The accounts have been frozen, and the lawyers say we will get almost everything back. Tonight, for the first time in three years, I ordered a pizza for Leo and promised him that everything was going to be okay. And this time, I actually meant it.
