My stepmother called at 11:47 p.m. on the first night in the beach house I bought with my own money and told me she and my father were moving in the next day, that they were taking the master suite, that her daughter would get the best ocean-view room

By noon, my clothes had been moved into a small bedroom at the back of the house that faced the driveway. I did not fight them because I was busy taking photographs of everything they had touched.

I called my attorney, Clive, and told him that my stepmother had officially occupied my property. He had been reviewing some suspicious documents regarding my father’s other estate in Napa Valley.

“I want the full file on the Napa property transfer,” I told him. Clive warned me not to confront them yet and to act as if nothing was wrong while he gathered evidence.

Within two hours, Clive called back to inform me that an LLC had been formed in Gillian’s name nearly a year ago. That entity now held the title to Randall’s Napa home through a deed with a very questionable signature.

Gillian had also authorized retirement withdrawals and opened a home equity line while Randall was recovering from heart surgery. She was using that money to fund her lifestyle and her upcoming award at the law alliance gala.