Victoria hesitated before slowly handing over the legal paperwork.
Mark adjusted the baby in his arm and took the folder.
He flipped open the thick cover to review the official documents.
The front page was stamped with an urgent foreclosure notice.
It showed that hundreds of thousands of dollars were completely missing.
"Where did our life savings go?" Mark asked, his voice shaking.
"I invested the funds into my brother's new business venture."
Mark gasped as the shocking truth finally settled in his chest.
"You used our home mortgage money without telling me a word?"
"He promised he would pay it back in thirty days!"
"He said the investment would double our family's trust fund!"
Mark took a deep breath to steady his rising pulse rate.
"Your brother has been bankrupt twice in the last five years."
"You risked our children's future on a reckless, foolish gamble!"
Emily sat on the cold floor, holding her swollen leg carefully.
"Are we going to lose our house, Daddy?" Emily asked crying.
Mark crouched down low and rubbed his daughter's soft hair.
"No, sweetie, I will make sure we stay perfectly safe."
"I am going to fix this terrible problem right now."
Mark stood up and looked straight at his tearful wife.
"You locked our children inside while men shouted outside the door."
"You let our injured daughter crawl across the house in fear."
"I was trying to handle the problem myself!" Victoria screamed wildly.
"You were hiding the truth from the family!" Mark shouted back.
The baby began to cry softly against Mark's shoulder now.
Mark patted the infant's back to comfort him gently and quietly.
"We need to call a lawyer right away," Mark said sternly.
"I will not let your mistakes ruin our children's home."
Victoria covered her face with both hands and began to sob.
"Please do not call the police on my brother, Mark!"
"He made a mistake, but he is still my family!"
"My real family is right here on this floor," Mark replied.