Page 87 of Forget That Guy
“The new will that you have on file, Jedidiah?” the judge asked.
“It’s dated one month after that one,” Jedidiah answered.
“And was there any cause to think that Mr. Cain wasn’t in his right mind at the time of the filing of this new will?” the judge continued.
“No, sir, Your Honor,” Jedidiah answered. “I spoke with his lawyer, and he’s given a sworn statement that he was of sound mind and body at the time.”
“And would a man of sound mind and body just go and kill himself?” my mother asked.
My head whipped around as shock, anger and defiance powered through me.
She was an asshole, of course. But acting like the man had killed himself while under oath? That was a new low.
“From the records we have, ma’am,” Jedidiah drawled, “he was killed in a home invasion.”
Denver had tensed so completely next to me that I was now worried.
He was absolutely rigid.
“And what makes you say that he killed himself, Mrs. Cain?” the judge asked the question that was practically burning on the tip of my tongue. “And let me clarify, you were married to Cantrell Cain at the time of his death, correct?”
Another touchy subject.
Mom had fought Dad tooth and nail through the years as he’d tried to obtain a divorce.
In the end, Dad was too sick to keep trying.
That, and too poor.
Mom had thought it would look bad for her career if she had a divorce under her belt, so she’d stayed married. Despite Dad fighting not to be.
“Yes, Your Honor. Which was why I know why he killed himself. We talked quite a bit on the phone in the end. He called and told me he was going to do it. And that I needed to watch out for our daughter.” She snorted. “As if I haven’t been doing that.”
The absolute nerve on this woman.
Her scoff had my eyes narrowing.
Jedidiah leaned back in his chair and said, “But have you?”
My mother turned to look at him. “What do you mean, have I?”
“From what I was able to collect,” he said, “you have over a million and a half dollars that you owe in back child support.”
My mother’s face went pink. “That’s a lie.”
Actually, it wasn’t.
Every once in a while after she left, Mom would get a good-paying job, and the state would take some money out of her paycheck in back child support. But most of the time, she didn’t have a job that they could do that with.
Which was why she wasn’t more behind than she was.
“Not a lie,” Jedidiah disagreed. “My assistant was able to confirm it with the state. You owe, and I quote, one million, five hundred thousand, four hundred and twenty-two dollars and sixty-nine cents.” He looked at the judge. “She hasn’t paid any child support since my client was eleven.”
The judge looked over to my mother. “Is that true?”
My mother opened and closed her mouth like a gasping fish.
“I didn’t know!”
