After years of caring for my father with declining mental health, I returned from a business trip only to get kicked out of his house.
But I called the police when my neighbor mentioned the two people who were most likely involved.
I came home from my work trip exhausted but eager to see my dad. At 42, I’d spent the last few years living with and taking care of him as his mental health slowly slipped away.
Some days were better than others. He’d remember everything crystal clear, and we’d laugh about old family stories.
Other days, he’d stare at me blankly, asking where my mom was, even though she’d passed away five years ago.
But coming back on that particular Tuesday, I discovered just how vicious people could be, and it changed something fundamental in me.
I walked through our front door, my rolling suitcase squeaking against the hardwood floors.
Something immediately felt off. All my things and other big suitcases, the ones I kept in the hall closet, were lined up by the door.
Before I could process what that meant, Dad jumped up from his usual spot on our beige couch.
His face turned red, and he pointed a shaking finger at me. “GET OUT OF HERE AND NEVER COME BACK!”
My heart stopped.
“Dad, what’s wrong?
It’s me, Sarah.”
“I know exactly who you are! Get out of my house!” His voice cracked with anger I’d never heard before, and he hurled a nearby magazine at me.
Brenda, the caregiver I’d hired to watch him whenever I was away, stood in the kitchen doorway. She didn’t move to help or explain anything.
She just watched with an odd little smile that made my skin crawl.
I wanted to ask her what was going on, but my dad was getting too agitated.
“Please, Dad. Let’s talk about this.” I reached for his arm, but he jerked away.
“Don’t touch me!
Leave now, or I’m calling the police!”
Not wanting to upset him further, I stepped outside onto our worn welcome mat, my legs shaking. I breathed deeply to calm my nerves, but the spring air felt too cold suddenly.
I had no idea what was happening, but I knew that my father was completely lucid.
So, why did he react like that?
I walked a few steps into the yard as I considered the possibilities and turned back to look at our house.
It was the same two-story colonial where I’d grown up, where I’d played hide-and-seek, and most recently, where I’d nursed Dad back to health after his first mental breakdown.
He would never be fully recovered, according to his doctors, but I was doing a solid job.
Suddenly, movement caught my attention from the second-floor window. A familiar figure stared at me for one second before hiding quickly.
But I knew who it was: Mark, my ex-husband. He was the man who’d cheated on me with his secretary three years ago.
The man Dad had called “worse than pond scum” when he found out.
What the hell was Mark doing in our house?
I couldn’t go back in, so I turned around, thinking about my options.
That’s when I saw our neighbor, Lucy, a nice older lady, across the street. She was pruning her rose bushes like she did every Tuesday.
I walked over to her, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Hey Lucy, have you noticed anything… odd about my dad lately?”
Lucy straightened up, wiping dirt from her gardening gloves.
“Oh honey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. That ex of yours has been coming around every single day while you were gone.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice.
“And yesterday, I saw him kissing your dad’s caregiver right on your front porch!
Bold as brass, they were.”
My whole body froze, but my mind was sharply putting all the pieces into place. Mark’s presence on the second floor coupled with Brenda’s weird smile at my dad’s outburst.
Although I’d never suspected anything from the caregiver, and I hadn’t seen my ex since our divorce, I knew they must be behind this. They must have said something to my father.
They might have broken the law somehow, too.
My body moved, and I pulled out my phone, dialing 911 as I walked back to my house.
“Yes, I need police at my house immediately. Some people have taken advantage of my elderly father, are currently invading his home, and may have done something worse.”
Then I marched back into the house.
To hell with waiting outside.
“YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH RIGHT NOW!” I shouted as I burst in and rushed up the stairs to the second floor. Mark and Brenda sprang apart on the hallway loveseat, lipstick smeared across both their faces.
But they didn’t feel guilty at all.
Instead, Mark’s familiar smirk appeared.
“Get out of my house, Sarah. You’re trespassing.”
“Your house?” I laughed, but it came out more like a sob. “This is my father’s house, and you know it.”
Dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs, his face twisted with confusion and anger.
“She’s trying to poison me, Mark!
She wants my house. You and Brenda told me the truth about her!”
“No, Dad, they’re lying to you!” I went back down the stairs, reaching for him, but Mark was faster and stepped between us.
“Get out of my way!” I told my lying ex, but he merely crossed his arms and smirked again.
Just then, police sirens wailed outside.
Mark’s smugness disappeared as he realized what I’d done, and I stepped by him to open the door.
Two officers walked in, and chaos erupted.
Dad began yelling the same things he had accused me of, and then he ran upstairs into his bedroom. He returned clutching her wooden jewelry box, his hands shaking so badly he almost dropped it.
“Look!
Look what she did!” He thrust the empty box at the officers.
“All of Martha’s jewelry. Gone! My wife’s precious things.” His voice cracked.
“Sarah took them to pawn them.
She wants my house too!”
“That’s not true, Dad. Please—”
“Don’t listen to her lies,” Mark cut in smoothly.
“We caught her selling the jewelry last month. Right, George?
Remember how upset you were when we showed you the pawn shop receipt?”
“Yes, yes!” Dad nodded frantically.
“They showed me proof. Sarah’s been stealing from me for months!”
Brenda placed her hand on Dad’s shoulder, her voice dripping with fake concern. “We’ve been trying to protect him, officers.
The poor man’s memory isn’t what it used to be, and she’s been taking advantage.
Last week, she tried to make him sign over his bank accounts.”
“That’s ridiculous!” I spun toward the officers. “I’ve been out of town for two weeks on a business trip.
They’re the ones who’ve been manipulating him! They must have sold something themselves!”
The cops didn’t know who to believe.
It was a lot of “he said, she said,” but my ex and his new woman didn’t know that I had one card left to play.
“I can prove that I’m not lying.
Officers, I installed security cameras in the house to monitor Dad’s health while I was away. I didn’t have time to check them during this trip because of work and because I thought I could trust his caregiver. But this footage might show you what’s really been happening.”
Mark’s smirk vanished, and Brenda’s face went white.
They had no idea, and boy, was I glad that I never told anyone.
We gathered around my laptop in the living room.
After searching and fast-forwarding a bit, I found what I needed. Mark and Brenda went into Dad’s room after he fell asleep on the couch one afternoon.
We saw how they took Mom’s jewelry pieces.
Brenda even tried on her pearl necklace, laughing as she modeled in front of Dad’s mirror.
“Look how gorgeous this will look on me once the old man kicks the bucket,” Brenda’s voice rang clear through the speakers. “We’ll finish pawning these things, sell the house, and live like kings.”
There was nothing else to say.
The officers quickly handcuffed them.
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