My brother-in-law had already printed business cards and started telling customers that he was taking over my late husband’s shop because I “wasn’t capable of running a garage.” He even handed one of the cards to my son, like the decision had already been made. Then the fleet manager who had sent us hundreds of trucks every year since 1998 walked through the back door, looked at him, and said, “You’re the one who called me last week pretending to be her, aren’t you?” My brother-in-law went completely silent.
The fleet manager reached into his coat and pulled out a folder containing copies of emails, call records, and a document my brother-in-law had sent using my name. He had been trying to convince several major customers that I was stepping away from the business and that all future accounts should be transferred to him. One of the emails even included a new bank account for payments, and it wasn’t connected to the garage at all. I looked at my son, and he whispered, “Mom, he’s been planning this since before Dad died.”
The fleet manager then handed me one final document and told me to read the last page carefully. It was a list of customers my brother-in-law had already contacted, along with the dates and what he had promised each of them. But at the bottom was a note from my husband, written months before he died, telling the fleet manager exactly what to do if anyone tried to take over the shop without my permission. I read it twice, then looked at my brother-in-law and said, “You really should have checked what he left behind.” His face changed when the fleet manager opened the folder again and showed him the document my husband had specifically prepared for this situation…
