Chapter 3 - THE PAGE UNDER THE PAGE
Alexander took the document into the kitchen.
Bianca followed him.
I followed them both.
“You signed paperwork last month,” she said.
“You remember.”
“What paperwork?”
“The household forms.
The insurance review.”
He closed his eyes.
I remembered that evening.
He had called while driving home, exhausted after an inspection at a construction site.
Bianca had ordered dinner.
She had arranged a stack of papers beside his plate.
“She put tabs where I needed to sign,” he said.
Ewald hovered in the doorway.
“Nothing happened yet.
There’s no reason to tear a marriage apart.”
I looked at him.
“You were holding my son’s money five minutes ago.”
“That was a gift.”
“From whom?”
He had no answer.
Alexander called the number on the closing notice.
It went to voicemail.
“This is Alexander Morgen.
Do not proceed with any transaction involving my mother’s property.
We dispute the authorization.”
Bianca began crying.
“After everything I’ve done for you.”
He stared at her.
“What have you done?”
“I kept this family functioning.
You send money whenever your mother sighs.”
I felt that old instinct rise inside me.
Make it easier.
Explain myself.
Prove I had not asked for anything.
Instead, I stayed quiet.
Alexander looked at Bianca.
“She paid for my engineering degree.
She hasn’t asked me for a dollar in years.”
“She has a house worth almost four hundred thousand.
My parents are struggling.”
“So you sell hers?”
“We were going to take care of her.”
I placed my scratched fingers on the counter.
“You didn’t even ask where I wanted to live.”
For a moment, Bianca looked directly at me.
The tears stopped.
“You’d rather let us drown.”
“Us?” Alexander asked.
Lydia appeared behind Ewald.
“Your father-in-law has obligations.”
“How much?” he asked.
Nobody spoke.
Alexander picked up Bianca’s phone from the counter.
She reached for it too late.
A message lit the screen.
FRIDAY IS FINAL.
NO MORE EXTENSIONS.
The sender was a name I did not know.
Nolan Pierce.
Alexander looked at Ewald.
“What happens Friday?”
Ewald’s jaw tightened.
“Give your wife her phone.”
But Alexander had already seen the next message.
IF THE HOUSE DOESN’T CLOSE, I FILE EVERYTHING.
He looked from the phone to the signature in his hand.
May you like
“What exactly did you make me sign?”
Bianca whispered, “More than one page.”
