“You monster,” Gloria whispered, her knuckles turning white as she clutched her handbag. “You planned this.”

“I simply recognized a good investment opportunity,” I said. “Your home is sitting on prime real estate. If you cannot pay, the land will be put to much better use.”

Gloria shook her head, her lips trembling.

“Graham will stop you,” she said, trying to find her anger again. “He will divorce you. He will take the girls, and you will be left with nothing.”

“Graham is welcome to try,” I said.

I sat back down in my leather office chair and looked up at her.

“But I think Graham has much bigger problems today than your mortgage.”

Gloria stared at me, her breathing shallow.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

“Your son has spent the last three years building a house of cards,” I said. “And the wind is starting to blow.”

She didn’t answer.

She looked at the document on my desk again, then back at me, as if seeing me for the very first time.