Chapter 3 - THE SIGN IN THE FRONT YARD
The next morning, everything changed.
At 7:12 a.m., my phone rang.
Dad.
I watched the screen.
I didn’t answer.
A few seconds later, Melissa texted.
You owe me an apology. You embarrassed me in my own house.
I stared at the message.
My own house.
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Claire was making coffee when she saw my face.
“What happened?”
I showed her.
She shook her head.
“Don’t reply.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because people like that don’t listen when you explain. They only listen when consequences arrive.”
I looked at her.
That sentence sounded different coming from Claire.
She was always the person trying to keep peace.
But even she had reached her limit.
Sunday passed quietly.
Too quietly.
Then Monday morning came.
At 8:04 a.m., Rachel sent me a picture.
The sign was there.
White background.
Black letters.
FOR SALE.
I stared at it.
Four years of pretending were over.
Eight minutes later, my phone started ringing.
Mom.
Then Dad.
Then Melissa.
Again.
Again.
Again.
I ignored all of them.
Then came the sound.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Someone was hitting my front door.
Claire looked up from the kitchen.
“Who is that?”
I checked the security camera.
And my stomach tightened.
My father was standing outside.
His face was red.
He looked furious.
But that wasn’t what caught my attention.
It was what he was holding.
A thick brown folder.
Something I had never seen before.
He lifted it toward the camera.
“You want to sell my house?”
His voice echoed through the speaker.
Then he opened the folder.
Pulled out a document.
And smiled.
A cold, confident smile.
“Maybe you should read what your mother made you sign four years ago.”
I felt a strange feeling in my chest.
Not fear.
Something else.
The feeling you get when you realize someone has been hiding something from you.
Claire walked beside me.
“Daniel…”
The door handle moved.
My father pushed it.
And the door opened.
Because somehow…
It was already unlocked.
My father stepped inside.
Holding a paper with my signature.
May you like
And the first words I saw on that document made my blood run cold.
TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP AGREEMENT.
