I’d been a concerned parent trying to help my son only to be systematically deceived and stolen from.
But Lennox wasn’t finished.
2 days before our court date, she showed up at my workplace.
I was a part-time bookkeeper for a small accounting firm, a job I’d taken after retirement to stay busy and supplement my social security.
I was at my desk working on month-end reports when the receptionist called back to tell me I had a visitor.
She says she’s your daughter-in-law, Jenny said.
Should I send her back?
My heart sank.
No, tell her I’m busy and can’t see visitors during work hours.
A few minutes later, Jenny called again.
She’s not leaving.
She says she’ll wait all day if she has to.
She’s making other clients uncomfortable.
I sighed and walked to the front office.
Lennox was sitting in the waiting area, dressed in her most expensive outfit.
Looking like she was ready for a business meeting rather than whatever confrontation she had planned.
Lennex, you need to leave.
This is my workplace.
I just want to talk.
She said loudly enough for everyone in the office to hear.
5 minutes, that’s all I’m asking.
I could see my co-workers watching from their desks, curious about the drama unfolding in our usually quiet office.
We have nothing to discuss.
Please, Bessie, I know I made mistakes.
I know I hurt you and Terrence, but I’m trying to make it right.
The sincerity in her voice was so convincing that for a moment I almost believed her.
Then I remembered that this was the same woman who had looked me in the eye and lied about having affairs, spending money, and a dozen other things.
What do you want, Lennox?
I want to settle the lawsuit.
I want to make things right between us.
Fine.
Pay me the $67,000 you owe me, and I’ll drop the suit.
You know I don’t have that kind of money.
Then we have nothing to discuss.
She stood up, moving closer to me.
Bessie, please.
I made mistakes, but I don’t deserve to have my life destroyed over them.
You destroyed your own life when you decided to steal from family and cheat on your husband.
The mask slipped for just a second, and I saw the real Lennox underneath.
Cold, calculating, dangerous.
Fine, she said quietly.
If that’s how you want to play it, then that’s how we’ll play it.
But don’t think this is over.
I know things about your precious son that would surprise you.
What kind of things?
She smiled, a cruel expression that made my skin crawl.
Let’s just say Terrence hasn’t been completely honest with you about everything.
Before I could ask what she meant, she turned and walked out of the office, leaving me standing there with a growing sense of dread.
That evening, I called Terrence and told him about Lennox’s visit.
She said she knows things about you that would surprise me.
What did she mean?
Terrence was quiet for a long moment.
Mom, there are some things I never told you, things I’m not proud of.
My heart sank.
What kind of things?
When Lennox and I were first married, I did some things.
Some financial things that weren’t completely legal.
What do you mean?
I falsified some documents to get a better loan rate on our first car.
I also didn’t report some cash income on our taxes one year.
And when we bought the house, I may have inflated my income on the mortgage application.
I felt sick.
Terrence, why didn’t you tell me this?
Because I was ashamed.
And because Lennox said it was normal that everyone did things like that and she has proof of this, she kept copies of everything.
She said it was for our records, but now I think she was keeping it as insurance in case I ever tried to leave her.
I closed my eyes, understanding the full scope of what we were dealing with.
Lennox wasn’t just a manipulative spenthrift.
She was a criminal who had been systematically compromising my son for years, creating evidence she could use to destroy him if he ever tried to escape.
Terrence, you need to tell James Crawford about this immediately.
Mom, if this comes out, I could go to jail.
I could lose my job, my professional license, everything.
And if you don’t tell him and Lennox uses it against us in court, you’ll lose everything anyway.
At least this way we can try to control how it comes out.
The next morning, I sat in James Crawford’s office with my son as he confessed to his financial crimes.
James listened without judgment, taking notes and asking clarifying questions.
When Terrence finished, James leaned back in his chair and studied us both.
“This is serious,” he said finally, “but it’s not insurmountable.
The statute of limitations has passed on some of these issues and the others can potentially be resolved through voluntary disclosure and payment of penalties.”
What about the lawsuit?
I asked.
The lawsuit just got more complicated.
But Bessie, I want you to understand something.
Your daughter-in-law isn’t just trying to avoid paying you back.
She’s trying to destroy your son’s life as punishment for leaving her.
This isn’t about money anymore.
This is about control.
As we left James’s office, I realized that the real battle was just beginning.
Lennox had shown her true colors, and she was willing to destroy everyone around her rather than accept responsibility for her actions.
But I wasn’t the same woman who had opened her door to them 3 weeks ago.
I was stronger now, angrier, and absolutely determined to protect my son from the monster he had married.
The war was far from over, but for the first time, I felt like we might actually win.
The courtroom was smaller than I’d expected with worn wooden benches and fluorescent lighting that made everyone looked pale and tired.
I sat behind James Crawford’s table, my hands folded in my lap, watching as Lennox entered with her attorney, a sharp-dressed woman in her 40s who looked like she charged by the minute.
Lennox had clearly spent money she didn’t have on her appearance for court.
Her hair was freshly styled, her makeup perfect, and she wore a conservative blue dress that probably cost more than I made in a week.
She was playing the role of the wronged daughter-in-law, the victim of a vindictive mother-in-law’s harassment.
Terrence zat naast me, zag er nerveus uit, maar vastberaden.
De afgelopen week had hij samen met James zijn financiële onregelmatigheden vrijwillig aan de bevoegde autoriteiten bekendgemaakt.
Dat zou boetes moeten betalen en mogelijk zijn huidige baan verliezen, maar het betekende ook dat Lennox de informatie niet kon gebruiken om hem te vernietigen.
Allen staan op,
de baleiff kondigde aan toen rechter Patricia Hris binnenkwam.
