Chapter 4 - The Secret Meeting Where I Heard My Son Agree to Sell My HouseThe next afternoon, I parked across the street from an upscale restaurant.
Through the window, I saw Vanessa.
She was sitting with Ethan and a man in a gray suit.
I recognized the man.
Nathan Cole.
A developer whose company had purchased several properties in the area.
I entered quietly.
I didn't approach them.
Instead, I sat at the bar where I could hear their conversation.
Nathan placed a folder on the table.
“Once the transfer is complete, we'll close within thirty days.”
Vanessa smiled.
“And the house?”
“Six point two million.”
My heart stopped.
Six point two million dollars.
My property.
My home.
The land had become extremely valuable because a major commercial development was planned nearby.
Ethan looked nervous.
“That's a lot of money.”
Nathan smiled.
“Your wife told me you had legal authority.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
She kicked him lightly beneath the table.
“Yes,” Ethan said.
I nearly stood.
Then Nathan continued.
“Margaret's name needs to disappear from the title.”
Ethan swallowed.
“I know.”
I closed my eyes.
My son knew.
He knew everything.
The silence I had interpreted as weakness had been complicity.
I stood.
“That's going to be difficult.”
All three turned.
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Ethan looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Nathan stared.
I walked toward the table.
“Because Margaret's name is not disappearing from anything.”
Vanessa stood.
“What are you doing here?”
“Listening.”
Ethan stood too.
“Mom, please.”
“No.”
I placed copies of the emails on the table.
Then the forged documents.
Then the original deed.
Nathan's expression changed.
“You have no legal authority to sell this property.”
I looked at him.
“Correct.”
He turned to Ethan.
“You told me—”
“I know what I told you.”
Nathan stood.
“I think this meeting is over.”
He left.
Vanessa turned on Ethan.
“You ruined everything!”
I stared at her.
“No.”
I said quietly:
“You ruined everything.”
She stepped toward me.
“You think you can keep this house?”
“Yes.”
“You're an old woman!”
Ethan flinched.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“Stop.”
It was the first time I had heard him defend me in years.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You're choosing her?”
Ethan looked at me.
Then at his wife.
“I don't know what I'm choosing anymore.”
She slapped him.
The restaurant went silent.
Vanessa grabbed her purse and left.
Ethan remained standing.
I looked at my son.
“Come home.”
He looked confused.
“To where?”
I looked at him sadly.
“Not my house.”
I walked away.
May you like
For the first time, Ethan had to face a choice without his mother solving it.
And I wasn't sure what he would choose.
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