Chapter 9 - The Hawthorne Appraisal
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Maya pulled a crumpled, official white envelope from her coat pocket and set it gently on my lap.
"I found this in the recycling bin under Julian's old desk at Mom's house," Maya whispered, glancing toward the door as if expecting her brother to burst through. "I didn't open it until I got into my car. Elena... I think you need to see this."
I unfolded the document inside. It was a formal property valuation and architectural feasibility study conducted by Vanguard Asset Management, dated four months before my attack.
My eyes scanned the dense financial columns.
The report appraised Hawthorne House and its surrounding twelve acres of prime woodland at $4.8 million. But the second page detailed a far more sinister proposition:
PROPOSED ACQUISITION & SUBDIVISION PLAN: HAWTHORNE ESTATES.
Developer: Vance Construction LLC.
Projected Net Revenue: $14.2 Million.
Note: Full acquisition requires liquidating current residential trust or securing owner's full power of attorney via medical incapacity.
My blood ran cold as I read that last line over and over again.
Medical incapacity.
Julian hadn't just stumbled into an opportunity to take my home when I refused to sign. He had commissioned an architectural firm to draft a multi-million-dollar subdivision plan for my father's land months ago, relying entirely on my "medical incapacity" to execute it.
Maya watched my face turn white. "What is it, Elena?"
"Your brother didn't just push me because he lost his temper, Maya," I said, handing her the second page of the report. "He planned to put me in a hospital or an asylum so he could declare himself my legal guardian and sell my father's land to a private developer."
Maya read the document, her jaw dropping in sheer horror. She dropped the paper onto the bed as if it had burned her fingers.
"Oh my God," Maya gasped, burying her face in her hands. "He's... he's a monster. He's an absolute monster."
May you like
"Does your mother know about this specific development plan?" I asked sharply.
"Mom was the one who paid Vanguard Asset Management for the appraisal," Maya revealed, her voice shaking violently. "She pulled fifty thousand dollars out of her retirement savings to fund Julian's initial zoning application."
