Chapter 15 - THE HOUSE CLAIRE WANTED
Claire moved out under court order.
Not because I demanded punishment.
Because the protective order required distance from the trust properties.
She rented an apartment.
For the first time in thirty years, the house was quiet.
I hated it.
Freedom does not always feel good immediately.
Sometimes it sounds like an empty kitchen.
I started repairing the ruined suit.
Not for a wedding.
Because I wanted to know whether it could be saved.
Some cuts could be hidden.
Others needed new cloth.
Sabrina came by once a week.
At first we talked about legal matters.
Then ordinary things.
Her work.
Nathan.
The canceled honeymoon.
Nathan had not ended the relationship permanently.
He had ended the wedding.
Difference.
He told Sabrina trust had to be rebuilt before vows.
I respected him for that.
One afternoon Sabrina asked:
"Why did you pay for the whole wedding?"
"Because you asked."
"Even when it was too much?"
"Fifteen thousand wasn't too much."
"Mom told Michael it cost eighty."
"I know."
We sat in silence.
"I looked at your hands that night."
"When Mom said you'd embarrass us."
"I was ashamed that Nathan's family would think we were... ordinary."
The word almost made me laugh.
"We were ordinary."
"That's not an insult."
"No."
It wasn't.
That was the lesson Sabrina had to learn herself.
The title company discovered another application.
Not the house.
Not the workshop.
Rosewood Hall.
A buyer had submitted an offer eight months earlier.
Buyer:
Turner Hospitality Partners.
Michael had planned to purchase my own property using money borrowed against it.
A circular theft.
But the offer contained something new.
Seller authorization signed by:
Harold Reed.
Witnessed by:
Claire Reed.
Notary:
Sabrina Grant.
My daughter was not a notary.
The stamp number belonged to someone else.
Then Cole identified the actual notary.
Nathan's aunt.
May you like
A licensed notary who swore she never signed anything.
Someone had stolen her seal.
