My Daughter-in-Law Is Trying to Teach Me Lessons? In My Own House That I Paid For? I Told My Son.

“Why are you telling me this? Why did you come all the way here?”

“Because when Victoria contacted me, I knew something was not right. I investigated, I found her history, and I could not stay silent.”

“I could not let her do to another family what she already did to others.”

“Are there more cases?”

“At least two that I could confirm. Probably there are more. She changes cities, changes names, sometimes uses different last names. She is an expert at this.”

I wiped my tears; I tried to think clearly.

“What can I do? How do I stop her?”

“First, we need to make sure this house is completely protected. Are the papers in your name?”

“Yes, everything is in my name. My husband and I bought this house 30 years ago. When he died, everything passed to me. I have the deeds; I have everything.”

“Good, that is good. But we need to do something else.”

“We need a clear will. We need documents that prove you are in full possession of your mental faculties. We need to shield everything legally so Victoria cannot do anything.”

Benjamin took a card out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“This is my card. I can help you with all of that. No charge. Consider it pro bono service. I cannot allow this woman to keep destroying families.”

I took the card with trembling hands.

“Thank you. I do not know what to say.”

“You do not have to say anything. You just have to protect yourself and protect your son.”

“My son? How do I protect him? He is blinded by her. He is not going to believe me.”

“Then we have to show him the truth with evidence, with documents, with facts he cannot deny.”

Benjamin pushed the papers toward me.

“Keep this. Read it. Everything is here.”

“The names of the previous victims, the dates, the legal documents. Everything you need to know about who Victoria Chase really is.”

I took the papers carefully. They were thick, many pages, many proofs.

“Can I take this to Lucas?”

“You can, but I advise you to protect yourself first. Secure the house, make the will, gather your own documents, and then confront your son.”

“Because when he sees this, everything is going to explode and you need to be prepared.”

Benjamin stood up. He put the rest of his papers in the briefcase.

“I will call you tomorrow to start with the paperwork.”

“Meanwhile, do not say anything to anyone. Not to Lucas, not to Victoria, no one. No one can know that I came here.”

“Why?”

“Because if Victoria finds out that you know the truth, she is going to accelerate her plans and we do not know what she is capable of when she feels cornered.”

A shiver ran down my back.

“Do you think she can hurt me?”

“I do not know, but I do not want to find out. Be careful, Mrs. Miller. Lock the doors well. Do not let her into your house and if you notice anything strange, anything at all, call me immediately.”

I nodded; I felt dizzy. All this was too much.

Benjamin walked toward the door. Before leaving, he turned around.

“You are going to be okay, ma’am. You are stronger than you think, and now you have the truth on your side. That is the most powerful thing you can have.”

Gathering the Evidence

He left. I locked the door.

I leaned against it. The papers were in my hands, heavy, full of horrible truths.

I went to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water; I drank slowly.

I tried to calm down. I tried to process everything I had just heard.

Victoria was a con artist, a predator. She had destroyed families.

She had left a man to die alone in a nursing home. And now she wanted to do the same to me.

She wanted my house. She wanted to remove me from my own life.

And my son had no idea. I sat at the kitchen table.

I opened the papers Benjamin had given me. I started reading.

Every page was worse than the last. Photos of Victoria with different men.

Marriage certificates, divorce certificates, property sale deeds. Complaints that never went anywhere.

Testimonies of destroyed families. Everything was there, black and white, irrefutable.

I reached a page that made me stop. It was an old photo.

Victoria was younger, maybe 25 years old. She was next to an older man.

He was smiling; he looked happy. Below the photo it said,

“Arthur Gales, 68 years old, married to Victoria for 8 months, declared incompetent, committed, passed away alone.”

I looked at the photo for a long time. That man had been someone.

He had had a life, a house, dreams, and Victoria took everything from him. I was not going to let her do the same to me.

I put the papers in a safe place. I hid them in the back of my closet, inside an old box that no one would check.

I spent the rest of the day in silence, thinking, planning. I knew I had to act fast, but I also had to be smart.

I could not make mistakes. That night, while I was eating dinner alone, my phone rang.

It was Lucas. I hesitated to answer, but I did.

“Hello, Mom, it is me. Can we talk?”

“Now is not a good time, Lucas.”

“Please, Mom, just 5 minutes.”

I sighed.

“All right, speak.”

“I want you to come for dinner at my place tomorrow. Victoria and I want to talk to you. We want to fix things.”

I felt a knot in my stomach. A dinner with Victoria after everything I had just discovered?

“I do not know, Lucas.”

“Please, Mom, it is important. We want to start over. We want to be a family again.”

His voice sounded sincere, desperate, but I already knew the truth. I knew this was not his idea.

It was her idea. It was another move.

“All right,”

I said finally.

“I will go.”

“Really?”

“Yes. At what time?”

“At 7. I will text you the address.”

“I will be there.”

I hung up the phone. My heart was beating fast.

I knew that dinner was a trap. I knew Victoria was planning something.

But I was also planning. I was going to go to that dinner, but I was not going to go as a victim.

I was going to go with the truth in my hands and with Benjamin Foster as backup. Because if Victoria wanted to play, I knew how to play too, and this time I held all the cards.

The next day I called Benjamin Foster early in the morning. I told him about the dinner invitation.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.