feeling like I wasn’t even capable of being a mother without you.”
I listened.
Then I asked, “Did I ever tell you that?”
“No.”
“Did I ever tell the children you weren’t capable?”
“No.”
“Then you should have spoken to me about how you felt instead of using my supposed memory problems to take their money.”
She had no answer.
We ended the call with one agreement.
The children would remain in the motel, and Paige would speak to the trustee honestly the following morning.
I would help protect the children from immediate hardship.
I would not conceal what their parents had done.
At 8:07 the next morning, Paige called again.
Scott was outside the motel.
She sounded frightened but steady enough to speak.
“He wants me to bring the kids down.
He says we’re leaving.”
“Leaving for where?”
“He won’t tell me.”
I asked whether she and the children were safe.
“Yes.
We’re in our room.
He’s in the parking lot.”
“Do you want to go with him?”
There was a long pause.
“No.”
That was the first decision Paige had made in days without referring to what Scott wanted.
I told her she didn’t have to go anywhere simply because he demanded it.
If he threatened them or tried to force entry, she should contact hotel security or emergency services.
Then I listened as she called Scott from her room.
She put the phone on speaker so I could hear.
“Where’s the money coming from now?” Scott demanded.
“It’s not,” Paige said.
“What do you mean?”
“Ruth contacted the trustee.
They’re investigating the paperwork.”
There was a sharp intake of breath.
“Your mother had no business interfering.”
“You used her signature without permission.”
“Paige, don’t start.
We can sort that out after we get settled.”
“Did the school actually exist?”
Scott said nothing.
“Did you ever enroll the kids?”
“That’s not the point.”
“It is the point.”
His tone changed.
“You knew what we were doing.
Don’t pretend otherwise.”
“I know what I signed in June,” Paige replied.
“And I was wrong.
I’m not signing anything else.”
“Then you’re choosing your mother over your family.”
“No,” she said.
“I’m choosing to stop lying to my family.”
I heard footsteps on gravel.
Then the call ended.
Scott left the motel parking lot without seeing the children.
That afternoon, Paige contacted Miriam and gave a detailed account of the earlier payment and the later request.
She supplied copies of messages Scott had sent about using the money to cover business debts.
She also provided the emails in which he described the tuition documentation as temporary paperwork.
There were no hidden recordings or sudden courtroom confessions.
There were ordinary messages, account records, signatures, and invoices.
The kind of evidence that becomes important when people can no longer rely on excuses.
I sent the trustee dated photographs and volunteer records showing Wren and Max attending activities in Iowa during the period the supposed Arizona program claimed they were present.
The trustee’s investigators later found that the payment recipient was an entity organized by Scott.
They also established that the $63,400 request did not represent legitimate tuition owed to the school named in the materials.
The trust’s attorney advised that the previous $14,800 payment could be pursued for recovery and that the falsified
