The bailiff handed the blue plastic binder to the judge.

Richard let out a soft, mocking laugh from his table. His lawyer leaned back in his chair, looking bored.

But as Judge Miller started flipping through the pages of the binder, the silence in the room became incredibly heavy.

The judge’s eyebrows knitted together. He stopped on a page with a gold county seal and read it twice. He flipped to the notary signature on Richard’s quitclaim deed, then back to the trust rules.

Judge Miller’s face went completely serious. He slowly took off his reading glasses and leaned forward, looking directly at Richard and his lawyer.

“Mr. Reynolds,” the judge said, his voice dropping to a deadly quiet tone. “You have a very serious problem.”

Richard’s smirk instantly vanished. His lawyer sat up straight, his face suddenly losing all its color.

“Your Honor?” the lawyer stammered.

“This quitclaim deed is not only completely void,” Judge Miller said, tapping his finger on my father’s documents. “It appears to be a fraudulent transfer of trust-protected property. The land and this house belong to a family trust. The husband had no legal right to transfer it, and this notary signature by a Mr. Todd Reynolds is a major violation of state notary laws. I am referring this matter to the county prosecutor’s office immediately.”

Susan gasped loudly from the gallery. Richard looked like he was about to throw up.

“Furthermore,” Judge Miller continued, looking down at his notepad. “I am issuing an immediate emergency order to freeze all bank accounts associated with Richard Reynolds and Susan Reynolds. The $180,000 removed from the joint savings account will be returned to the court’s registry within forty-eight hours, or Mr. Reynolds will be held in contempt and jailed immediately.”

Richard’s lawyer looked like he wanted to crawl under the table. He leaned over and started whispering frantically to Richard, whose head was buried in his hands.

Outside the courtroom, Susan tried to corner me near the elevators. Her face was bright red, and she was clutching her designer purse like a shield.