Chapter 9: The Night Before
The night before the hearing I barely slept.
I walked through the house room by room, turning on lights and then turning them off again. In the nursery I sat in the glider my parents had given me and stared at the empty crib. The dinosaur mobile my father had hung turned slowly in the soft current from the vent.
Aaron sent one last message through Rebecca that evening.
This is still fixable. We can sit down as a family and find a compromise. Don’t do this in front of a judge.
I dictated a short reply for Rebecca to send.
There is nothing left to compromise. The house is not a family resource. It is my separate property. We will see you in court.
After that I turned off my phone.
My parents stayed overnight in the guest room. In the early hours I heard my father get up and check the locks one more time. The sound of his careful footsteps in the hallway was strangely comforting.
At dawn I stood at the bedroom window and watched the sky lighten over the quiet street.
Whatever happened in the courtroom later that day, I already knew one thing with absolute clarity.
I would not hand over the keys.
Not to Aaron.
May you like
Not to Gerald.
Not to anyone who had walked into this house and treated my parents’ sacrifice as an opportunity.
