I looked through the cabin window at the moonlit trees.
“Your father is gone, Jared. The penthouse belongs to you now. So do its expenses.”
Then Vanessa took the phone.
“You transfer that money back, or you’ll never see us again.”
I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You threw me out and insulted me. Why should I finance people who treat me that way?”
“Because Jared is your son!”
“And he’s forty-three years old.”
I ended the call.
The following morning, I was working near the greenhouse when Jared arrived.
He marched toward me.
“You need to sell this cabin.”
“No.”
He blinked.
“Vanessa ran the numbers. We can’t afford the penthouse expenses. Sell this place, move into a small apartment near us, and give us the money.”
“No.”
He called the cabin a shack.
So I opened the front door.
His expression changed the second he saw inside.
“This is…”
“Your father left me a debt-free home,” I said. “He left you a luxury property you need to learn how to afford.”
Jared left angry.
Two weeks later, Vanessa returned.
This time, she brought Jared and her parents, Richard and Linda.
She arrived carrying luggage.
“We’re staying for the weekend,” she announced. “We need to inspect the property.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“This is family property.”
“No. It’s my property.”
Vanessa became increasingly angry.
She insisted she needed receipts, records, and information about Thomas’s estate.
When I refused to let them inside, her father looked confused.
“Vanessa told us Leah invited us.”
I turned toward him.
“I didn’t.”
Richard looked at his daughter.
