Footsteps echoed loudly across the marble hallway outside. Mark rushed into the bedroom, still buttoning his white dress shirt with his tie hanging untied around his neck. He looked at his crying wife holding her head, then looked at the heavy iron pot lying on the floor, and finally looked at his mother standing over the bed.
Mark: What the hell is going on in here? What was that loud crashing noise?
Margarethe: Oh, Mark, thank goodness you are awake! My hand slipped while I was bringing in a pot!
Hannah: Your hand slipped? You threw it across the entire room at my face!
Margarethe: Don't speak to my son like that! This is my son's home, and you are just a guest here!
Mark looked confused, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He loved his mother, but he knew how mean she could be when she did not get her way. Yet, he had never told his mother the full truth about their financial situation. Margarethe truly believed Mark had bought this ten-million-dollar mansion with his own money from his corporate job. She believed Hannah was just a lucky girl who married a rich executive.
Hannah: Mark, did you never tell her who actually owns this house?
Mark: Hannah, please, don't start this right now. She is my mother.
Margarethe: Tell me what? What is she talking about, Mark?
Hannah: Tell her the truth, Mark! Tell her whose name is on the deed!
Mark looked down at the floor, his face turning pale red with deep embarrassment. He had let his mother believe a big lie for months because he wanted her to respect him. He was tired of being judged by his wealthy relatives, so he let Margarethe brag to all her friends about her son's huge estate and swimming pool. But now, that foolish lie was turning into a dangerous situation that put his wife in real physical danger.
Hannah stood up slowly from the bed. She walked over to her writing desk near the big US flag and pulled out a thick navy blue folder from the top drawer. Inside were the original hard copies of the deed, certified by the county court clerk, along with the official inheritance tax forms signed by her family attorney.