PART 5 – SOFIA'S SECRET HEART
The pen rolled softly across the desk. The silence that fell over the room was so thick you could have heard a pin drop. Daniel flinched visibly. His face turned as pale as a sheet. “Mom? What on earth are you doing? Why aren't you signing?” Sofia brought her hand to her mouth, staring at me with eyes full of disbelief and panic. “Have you gone crazy?
Just sign! The notary doesn't have time for these games!” Notary Van de Berg looked up from his papers, frowning in confusion. He looked at me, then at my children, and back to me again. “Is there a problem, Mrs. De Jong?” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms. My gaze had turned icy, a look they had never seen in me before. “There is definitely a problem, Mr.
Notary,” I said in a clear, firm voice. “This is not a simple sale. This is a fraudulent scheme orchestrated by my children to saddle me with their personal debts.” Daniel nearly leaped out of his chair. His face contorted with anger and fear. “Have you completely lost your mind?! What are you inventing now? Mom, have you gone senile or what? Why are you making up this nonsense?” “That's enough, Daniel,” I said with a voice that tolerated no opposition.
“I've seen the documents. I know about the loan from the loan shark. I know that Sofia put up her house as collateral. And I know you wanted to buy this house for pennies through a nominee to save your own skins.” Sofia began to cry, but it wasn't a cry of remorse; it was the sob of a criminal caught in the act whose act had shattered to pieces. “It's not true!
Grandma didn't love us! She never wanted to help us! That's why we had to do it!” “Your grandmother loved you with all her soul,” I replied, as tears now rolled down my face as well. “But you only loved her money.” The notary put down his pen and turned sternly toward Daniel and Sofia. “If there are elements of deception or hidden financial interests in a contract of sale, I am obligated to cancel this transaction immediately and notify the authorities.” Daniel grabbed Sofia by the arm.
His eyes glared at me with fury. “I will never forgive you for this, Mom! You're destroying our lives!” “No, Daniel,” I said, standing up. “You destroyed your own lives by lying to someone who gave everything for you. And as of today, it's over.” I stood up, took my bag containing my mother's letters, and walked out of the notary's office with my head held high, leaving behind two children whose empire of lies had collapsed in a single instant.
