Chapter 6 - HIS HOUSE
I held the phone away from my ear.
When Garret stopped shouting, I brought it back.
“Are you finished?”
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?”
“Lower your voice.”
“That house is mine!”
“No.”
“You sold it without telling me!”
“Yes.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I already did.”
I heard Evelyn in the background.
“What is she saying?”
Garret ignored her.
“You had no right.”
I almost admired the confidence.
“The deed disagrees.”
“We’re married.”
“Yes.”
“That makes it marital property.”
“No.”
“Yes, it does!”
“Read the prenup.”
Silence.
Then,
“What prenup?”
I smiled.
“The one you signed.”
“I know what I signed.”
“Apparently not.”
His breathing changed.
“Audrey, undo this.”
“No.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“You’re emotional.”
There was that word again.
“You just had a baby.”
“And?”
“You’re not thinking clearly.”
“I sold a property I legally owned to a qualified cash buyer at market value through licensed counsel.”
Silence.
“That sounds fairly clear to me.”
Evelyn’s voice appeared behind him.
“Put her on speaker.”
Then she spoke directly.
“Audrey, this little stunt ends now.”
“Hello, Evelyn.”
“You will contact the buyer immediately.”
“No.”
“You will explain that you are postpartum and mentally overwhelmed.”
My entire body went cold.
Garret said nothing.
That hurt more than I expected.
“You want me to claim I’m mentally incompetent?”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“No.”
I looked at Maya.
“I’m finally hearing them correctly.”
Garret interrupted.
“Babe, nobody said incompetent.”
“Your mother just did.”
“She’s trying to fix this.”
“There’s nothing to fix.”
“You sold our home.”
“My home.”
“Our daughter’s home!”
I laughed once.
“You remembered you have a daughter.”
Silence.
“That’s low.”
“No.”
My voice remained calm.
“Low was changing the code three days after I gave birth and leaving your wife and newborn outside in the rain.”
“The keypad malfunctioned.”
“Stop.”
“Audrey—”
“I have the access log.”
Silence.
“I know the code was manually changed at 3:42 p.m.”
Garret said nothing.
“Your flight left at 5:10.”
Still nothing.
“You did it intentionally.”
Evelyn interrupted.
“This is irrelevant.”
“No, Evelyn.”
“It’s the entire reason we’re here.”
Garret finally spoke.
“You were supposed to stay with Paige.”
There it was.
Not denial.
Admission.
I closed my eyes.
“You planned for me to be locked out.”
“You needed space.”
“You locked me out of my property.”
“Our property.”
“Not anymore.”
He cursed.
I heard something hit a table.
Then Evelyn said,
“We’re coming home.”
“Good.”
“You’re going to regret humiliating this family.”
I looked down at Maya.
“No.”
“I think I’m finally done regretting things.”
I ended the call.
Two minutes later, Natalie called.
“They contacted Henry’s attorney.”
“That was fast.”
“They threatened to sue.”
“Can they?”
“They can file anything they want.”
“Can they win?”
“No.”
I exhaled.
Then Natalie added,
“But Audrey, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“We found out why they wanted the trust.”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
“Garret owes money.”
May you like
“How much?”
“Enough that Redwood Crest may have been his only plan to get out.”
