My Parents Told Grandma They Were Taking Her Out for Lunch. Three Hours Later, a Nursing Facility Called Me. Her Suitcase Was Waiting in Their Lobby, and My Parents Had Disappeared. / Chapter 6 / 10

Chapter 6 - One Hundred and Sixty Thousand"Stay inside," I told Grandma. The look she gave me ended that conversation immediately.

We met them on the porch. Dad looked exhausted, his shirt wrinkled, stress draining the color from his face. Mom looked furious.

"What have you done?" she demanded.

Grandma crossed her arms. "I came back to my home."

"You contacted the police," Dad said.

"Yes."

"You're going to ruin my business."

"You used my money to keep it operating."

"I borrowed it."

"Without my permission."

"I had legal authority."

"You had authority to manage my bills while I recovered from surgery. You did not have permission to move my savings into your own accounts."

Dad dragged both hands across his face. "You don't understand. Three projects went wrong at the same time. Suppliers were threatening liens. Payroll was coming due. I needed temporary funding."

"So you used mine."

"I intended to repay it."

Grandma pointed toward the front yard. "And what about the deed?"

He looked away. Mom stepped forward. "The house was only being used as collateral."

My stomach tightened. Grandma's voice went unusually quiet. "Collateral for what?"

Neither answered. I remembered the twenty-thousand-dollar transfer to the title company. Dad finally spoke.

"A bridge loan."

"How much?"

"Mom—"

"How much?"

He let out a long breath. "One hundred and sixty thousand."

Grandma placed one hand against the porch railing, not because she was weak, but as though she needed something solid under her fingers. "You used my house as security for a company loan?"

His jaw tightened. "It was meant to cover a temporary financing gap. Once the commercial project paid out, I would have cleared everything."

"And when is that supposed to happen?"

Silence. Mom answered for him. "The client declared bankruptcy."

For several seconds, distant traffic on the county road was the only sound. Then it became clear to me — the nursing facility, the questionable deed, the estate sale. They hadn't merely been trying to gain control of Grandma's assets. They were racing a deadline.

"What happens to the house now?" I asked.

Grandma answered before Dad could. "If the deed and loan were obtained improperly, an attorney can challenge them."

"Attorneys cost money," Mom said sharply.

Grandma nearly smiled. "You left me enough."

Mom's expression shifted — a tiny reaction that told Grandma something important. She looked at Dad directly. "How much debt exists that I haven't been told about?"

He said nothing. Grandma went inside and closed the door. Dad tried to follow. I stepped in front of him.

"This is my mother's house," he said.