Chapter 2: You Have No Idea Whose House You Are In
Claudia scrambled to her feet, her hand pressed against her cheek, eyes blazing.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your life, old man."
Richard didn't flinch.
He pulled Ethan closer and turned to Mark.
"How long has this been happening?"
Mark said nothing.
He looked at the floor.
"How long, Mark?"
"It wasn't — she didn't mean —"
"He was outside for nine hours.
Barefoot.
In the cold." Richard's voice dropped to something quiet and final.
"And you let it happen."
Claudia grabbed her phone off the counter.
"I'm calling the police.
You h\*t me.
That's assault.
You're finished."
Richard looked at her calmly.
"Go ahead.
Call them.
And while you're at it, ask them to pull up the property records for this address."
Claudia's hand slowed.
"This house," Richard said, "was never in your name.
Or Mark's."
The room went still.
Ethan tugged at Richard's collar and whispered something.
Richard looked down at the boy.
His jaw tightened.
"Say that again, son."
Ethan's voice was barely a sound.
"Grandpa…
she said you were never coming back."
Richard looked up at Claudia.
Something in his expression made her step backward.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and answered it without looking away from her.
"Yes.
We're ready."
---
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What Richard had arranged before he even walked through that door changes everything.
Click the link below to read the full story — the truth is bigger than anyone in that room expected.
