Chapter 6 - The Deed and the Demand
|
I didn't shed a single tear. I refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. I calmly walked down the stairs, carefully stepping over the shattered glass of my wedding photo, and began gathering my scattered clothes from the foyer floor. I stuffed them haphazardly into my leather overnight bag.
As I zipped the bag closed and swung it over my shoulder, Brenda marched down the stairs, panting heavily from her violent exertion. She stopped on the bottom step, looking down at me with an expression of pure malice.
"And leave the apartment keys on the table before you walk out," Brenda demanded, holding out her hand expectantly. "Luke already gave me a copy of the deed. We are starting the transition process next week."
I stopped dead in my tracks. My hand hovered over the brass doorknob.
Three days earlier, Luke had casually asked me for the folder containing my property documents. He claimed he needed them "for a routine bank procedure" regarding our joint tax filings. I had trusted him. I had handed over the physical proof of my life's greatest financial achievement to the man I thought had my back.
I looked at Luke, who was now staring intensely at the floor, looking like a scolded child.
May you like
I didn't argue. I didn't scream. I just looked Brenda dead in the eye, offered a cold, humorless smile, and said nothing. I opened the heavy front door and walked out into the cool Nashville night, leaving the chaos behind me.
I got into my car, locked the doors, and drove straight to my best friend Maya's house on the other side of the city. I was entirely numb, but a terrifying realization was beginning to bloom in the back of my mind.
