The following morning, Gwen saw several missed calls from her lawyer. With a rising sense of dread, she called back. “Just need your signature on the last document,” he explained. “Elizabeth submitted everything else yesterday—the house, the accounts, the car. You just need to sign for the life insurance.” Gwen’s heart pounded. She remembered the signatures, the invoices, the trust she’d handed over to Elizabeth. She called Elizabeth again, but it was useless. All those little kindnesses now seemed like a setup.
Gwen visited a new lawyer, explaining everything: her illness, the signatures, the grief. The answer was hard but honest—she’d signed willingly. The paperwork was ironclad. A court fight would cost everything and might win nothing. That night, Gwen wandered her house, feeling numb and foolish for trusting Elizabeth. But she couldn’t have known what was coming next.