I looked at Margaret.
She was crying.
Then I looked at Rachel.
She looked terrified.
And finally I looked at Nathan.
“Where did all that money go?”
He swallowed.
“I invested it.”
“In what?”
Silence.
I stood again.
“Where is the money, Nathan?”
He looked at the floor.
“It’s gone.”
My voice dropped.
“Gone where?”
He didn’t answer.
Then Rachel suddenly whispered:
“The casino.”
Nathan looked at her.
She covered her mouth.
I stared at him.
“Casino?”
He closed his eyes.
And I knew.
The man I had spent three years defending had gambled with our home.
And he hadn’t just lost money.
He had put the entire house at risk.
The house I had paid for.
The house my mother-in-law had threatened to throw me out of.
The house they had claimed belonged to the family.
I looked at the forged signature again.
Then I realized something even worse.
