The video quality was shaky, clearly filmed by a child hiding behind a cracked bedroom door. On the screen, my mother was in her hospital bed. David was standing over her, holding a pen and a stack of papers.

“Sign it, Mom,” David’s voice hissed through the iPad speakers. “If you don’t sign this right now, I’m calling Adult Protective Services and telling them Sarah is neglecting you. I’ll have you thrown in a state facility by tomorrow.”

On the video, my mother was crying, her hands shaking as she took the pen. “Please, David. Don’t take the house from Sarah. She takes such good care of me.”

“Sign it!” he barked.

The video ended. The silence in the lawyer’s office was deafening. I stared at my brother, completely disgusted. He had blackmailed our dying mother.

The lawyer slowly took his reading glasses off. He didn’t look at David. He looked at me. “Under state law, a will signed under extreme duress and coercion is immediately null and void. Furthermore, elder abuse is a felony.”

David scrambled backward, his face pale, stammering about AI and fake videos. But the lawyer was already dialing his desk phone to call the authorities.

David didn’t get a dime. The original will, which left the house to me, was restored. David is currently facing charges for elder coercion and fraud. As for Mia? I bought her the biggest ice cream sundae in the city. My brother thought he could manipulate a vulnerable old woman, but he completely forgot about the quiet 10-year-old girl sitting in the corner, playing games on her iPad, who loved her grandmother more than anything.