Chapter 3: What Richard Came to Collect
I sat back down at the table.
The restaurant was warm, full of other people's celebrations.
Glasses clinking.
Someone laughing two tables over.
All of it felt very far away.
Richard folded his hands on the tablecloth like a man who had rehearsed this moment.
"I think we should talk about the house," he said.
I kept my voice level.
"What about it?"
"Daniel tells me you're still living there."
"I've lived there for twenty-two years."
"Mm." Richard tilted his head slightly.
"The thing is, my name is still on the deed."
The table went quiet.
Sophie's water glass stopped halfway to her mouth.
I looked at Daniel.
"Is that what you signed?"
He didn't answer right away.
His jaw moved once, like he was choosing words carefully.
"Dad said it was just a formality.
Something to do with the baby's inheritance.
Making sure everything was protected legally."
"Daniel." I kept my eyes on him.
"What did you sign?"
"A letter of support," Richard said smoothly.
"Confirming that Daniel, as the other party with an interest in the estate, has no objection to my initiating a formal review of the property title."
Sophie set her glass down.
"You told him it was for the baby."
"It is for the baby." Richard smiled at her.
"Everything I'm doing is for this family."
"You left this family," I said.
The smile didn't move.
"I left the marriage.
That's not the same thing."
I turned back to Daniel.
He was staring at the table.
"How long has he been telling you this?"
"A few months."
"And you didn't think to call me?"
"He said you'd react like this."
That landed somewhere deep.
I breathed through it.
"React like what, Daniel?
Like a person who's about to lose her home?"
"Nobody's losing anything," Richard said.
"We're simply establishing what belongs where.
The house was purchased during our marriage.
My name is on the deed.
That's a legal fact."
"You paid nothing toward that house after you left."
"I paid toward it before I left.
For nine years." He picked up his wine glass.
"The law doesn't forget that just because you'd like it to."
Sophie spoke quietly.
"He told Daniel that if the title wasn't reviewed now, before the baby came, there could be complications with the estate later."
"There won't be complications," I said.
"There's nothing to review."
"That's not what my solicitor says." Richard set his glass down.
"I had the deed examined last month.
There are grounds for a claim.
Not a large one.
But enough."
Daniel finally looked up.
"Mom, he just wants to be fair."
I looked at my son — this boy I had raised alone, driven to every practice, sat with through every fever, worked double shifts for when the boiler broke and the roof leaked — and I understood something clearly for the first time.
Richard hadn't reconnected with Daniel because of the baby.
He had used the baby to get to Daniel.
And Daniel, who had grown up without a father, had wanted so badly to believe the man sitting across from him was finally on his side.
"What exactly does your solicitor want?" I asked Richard.
"A conversation.
A review of the asset.
Possibly a modest settlement to release my interest in the property cleanly."
"How modest?"
He named a number.
Sophie made a small sound beside me.
It was not modest.
Daniel's face changed.
"Dad, you said it would be—"
"A starting point," Richard said.
"Everything is negotiable."
I stood up.
"I need some air."
I walked out through the front of the restaurant and stood on the pavement.
The evening was cool.
I could hear traffic two streets over.
My phone buzzed.
Sophie.
*Don't go far.
May you like
There's one more thing in those pages.
I didn't show you the last one.*
