“That’s my signature,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “But I didn’t sign this.”

“He forged it, Tessa,” Jennifer said. “And he used a fraudulent notary stamp to seal it.”

Molly gasped beside me, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Is the loan active?” I asked.

“No,” Jennifer said. “The lender ran a title search as part of the final verification. Because we put the property under contract with Elliot’s cash buyer yesterday, the title is locked.”

“Thank God,” I breathed, sinking back into the wooden kitchen chair.

“The application was flagged instantly,” Jennifer explained. “The lender’s fraud department called me ten minutes ago because my office is listed on the property’s primary title records.”

“What happens to Brent now?” I asked.

“He doesn’t know it yet, but the lender is preparing a formal fraud report for the state authorities,” Jennifer said. “But we have a bigger issue. He is desperate.”

“He thinks he’s getting that money today,” I said, remembering the smug look on his face on the security feed.