Chapter 9 - THE MAN AT MY DOOR
I did not buzz him in.
Through the intercom, Derek sounded cheerful.
“Come on.
We need to talk.”
“You can call.”
“Face-to-face is better.”
“Not tonight.”
His voice sharpened.
“You’re hiding behind Sophie now?”
“I’m standing in my apartment.”
“Mom gave me the address.”
Of course she had.
I had told Dad where I was so he wouldn’t worry.
“Leave, Derek.”
“Not until you hear me.”
I looked through the window.
He stood beside the bakery door, looking up.
I called my landlord, who lived downstairs.
She stepped outside and told him the entrance had to remain clear.
He argued.
Then noticed me watching.
He pointed at his phone.
A message arrived.
You’re doing this to Evan and Lucy.
I set the phone facedown.
Ten minutes later, another message came from an unfamiliar number.
This is Hannah.
Derek’s ex-wife.
Please don’t answer anything about me until we talk.
I had met Hannah twice.
Derek always described her as difficult.
I called.
“Did he tell you why he’s really moving?” she asked.
“Debt.”
“That’s part of it.”
She took a breath.
“He told me the house was already being transferred to him.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“He said your parents had agreed.
He sent pictures of the rooms.
He said the kids would have a permanent home.”
“The house isn’t his.”
“I know that now.”
She explained that the children were visiting for two weeks.
Derek had told Mom he was moving them permanently.
He had told Hannah he was establishing a stable home before discussing a longer stay.
Different stories.
Different audiences.
One deadline.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because Lucy called and said Aunt Naomi was leaving because Daddy needed her bed.”
I sat down.
Hannah’s voice shook.
“I don’t want my children thinking that’s how families work.”
We agreed not to involve the kids in the financial dispute.
Before we hung up, she asked if she could send something.
A screenshot arrived.
Derek’s message to her was dated three weeks before dinner.
Once Mom gets Naomi out, the money problem is handled.
May you like
Then came another line.
She doesn’t know she already paid for my fresh start.
