Chapter 9 - The Fall of the ParasitesWithin forty-eight hours of my departure, the structural illusion of my family's comfortable life began to violently disintegrate.
What my family never understood—because they were too self-absorbed to ever look at the household finances—was that the mortgage on their suburban home, the medical insurance premiums for my parents, and even the credit cards Brad used to finance his lavish lifestyle had been quietly subsidized by Michael’s private trust and military residual benefits. For nine months following Michael's death, I had continued authorizing those payments out of misplaced loyalty and a desire to honor my husband’s generous spirit.
That morning, while I was settling into my new secure estate overlooking the valley, the automated legal injunctions tied to Project Orion’s federal acquisition triggered a comprehensive forensic audit of all accounts associated with Michael Carter’s estate.
The results were catastrophic for my family.
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By Saturday afternoon, my father received a certified notice from the bank: the mortgage on the house was being recalled due to fraudulent misrepresentation of dependent status on the original deed—a deed my father had manipulated years prior to include his name alongside Michael’s. Furthermore, the medical subsidies were terminated instantly, leaving my parents facing thousands of dollars in uncovered prescription and treatment costs.
Brad’s business ventures, which relied heavily on unsecured loans backed by the expectation of inheriting my father’s real estate holdings, collapsed overnight when lenders realized the house was legally bound to Michael’s federal estate, which now belonged entirely to me and my unborn child.
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