Chapter 2 — The Petition

They wanted emergency guardianship over me — control of my accounts, and the authority to sell the house my husband and I had built forty years earlier.

According to their filing, I had become “dangerously forgetful” since his death.

According to the truth, Sheldon had emptied my emergency account, forged my signature on a loan application, and moved Blanche’s brother into my guesthouse without asking.

When I objected, Blanche smiled at me across my own kitchen table.

“You should be grateful.