Chapter 4 - The House Full of SecretsI arrived at my parents' house at 6:15 p.m.
I parked across the street instead of in the driveway.
Claire had advised me to keep distance from the house until we understood what was happening.
I carried a folder containing copies of the vehicle title.
Not the original.
The original was locked inside my apartment's fireproof safe.
My phone was recording.
So was the small recorder in my coat pocket.
I knocked.
Mom opened the door.
She smiled immediately.
“There she is.”
I didn't smile back.
“Where's Dad?”
“In the kitchen.”
“And Tyler?”
Her expression flickered.
“Upstairs.”
Of course he was.
I stepped inside.
The house smelled exactly as it had when I was a child.
Cinnamon.
Coffee.
Old furniture.
For one brief second, I felt twelve years old again.
Then I remembered the loan.
The fake signature.
The tire iron.
The broken windshield.
The feeling disappeared.
Dad walked into the room.
He looked tired.
“You brought the title?”
I held up the folder.
“Why?”
He sighed.
“You're making this harder than it needs to be.”
“For whom?”
“For everyone.”
Mom closed the door.
The click sounded louder than it should have.
Dad sat down.
“Tyler needs the vehicle.”
“No.”
“He has work.”
“He has a car.”
“It broke down.”
“He can fix it.”
Dad's eyes hardened.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Punishing your family.”
I looked at him.
“You forged my name.”
He froze.
Mom's face went pale.
Tyler appeared halfway down the stairs.
“What?”
Dad stood.
“Nobody forged anything.”
I smiled.
“Interesting.”
He stared at me.
“How did you hear that?”
“I didn't.”
Silence.
That was the first crack.
Dad realized his mistake.
Tyler came downstairs.
“Nora.”
I turned toward him.
“Did you know about the loan?”
“No.”
“Did you know Mom took copies of my identification?”
“No.”
“Did you know a vehicle transfer document exists with my signature?”
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“Tyler?”
He looked at Mom.
That was enough.
I had my answer.
I opened the folder.
Inside was a photocopy of the vehicle title.
I placed it on the table.
My parents stared at it.
Dad leaned closer.
“That's not the original.”
“No.”
“Where is the original?”
“Safe.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm not stupid.”
Tyler slammed his hand against the table.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“You've been treating us like criminals.”
“I didn't have to. You did that yourselves.”
Mom started crying.
Real or fake, I couldn't tell anymore.
“Nora, sweetheart, we were trying to help Tyler.”
“With a $280,000 loan?”
She stopped crying.
Dad stepped forward.
“You don't know everything.”
“Then tell me.”
“We had financial problems.”
“You always have financial problems.”
“This time it was serious.”
“So you used my name.”
“It was temporary.”
My heart pounded.
“You admit it?”
Dad's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Then Tyler said the words.
“I signed it.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Dad's face changed.
Tyler realized what he'd done.
Mom whispered, “Tyler.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“She wasn't supposed to find out until after the sale.”
I went completely still.
“After the sale of what?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at the folder.
Then at my father.
Then at Tyler.
“What were you selling?”
Dad sat down slowly.
“The house.”
I stared at him.
“The house isn't yours to sell.”
“We needed to.”
“Why?”
He said nothing.
I looked at Mom.
“Why?”
She wiped her eyes.
“We're in debt.”
“How much?”
Silence.
Tyler whispered, “More than you think.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
He swallowed.
“Four hundred thousand.”
My stomach dropped.
“And the loan?”
“Two eighty.”
“So you're over six hundred thousand in debt.”
Dad finally spoke.
“There are other debts.”
I could barely hear my own voice.
“How many?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped backward.
Then something on the wall caught my attention.
A framed photograph.
Family vacation.
Beach.
Everyone smiling.
And behind the photograph, sticking out of the frame, was a yellow envelope.
I had seen that envelope before.
It belonged to my grandfather.
He had left behind several legal documents after his death.
My father had always claimed they were old papers with no value.
But my grandfather had once told me something strange.
“Nora, never let your father convince you that everything in this family belongs to him.”
At the time, I didn't understand.
Now I did.
I reached toward the frame.
Dad moved quickly.
“Don't touch that.”
I stopped.
Why was he afraid of one envelope?
I looked at him.
“What's inside?”
“Nothing.”
Tyler suddenly said, “Just leave it.”
That made me want it even more.
I took the photograph off the wall.
Dad grabbed my wrist.
“Don't.”
The room went silent.
His fingers tightened.
I looked down at his hand.
Then at him.
He released me.
Slowly.
“I'm sorry,” he said.
I opened the yellow envelope.
Inside was a property document.
And a handwritten note.
I read the first line.
Then I read it again.
My grandfather had left a piece of property to me.
Not my father.
Not my mother.
Me.
And the property was worth more than the debt my parents were trying to hide.
Mom looked at my face.
She knew.
Dad knew.
Tyler knew.
I held the document up.
“This is what you're trying to take.”
Dad didn't answer.
But Tyler did.
“No.”
His voice was barely audible.
“That can't be right.”
I looked at him.
“It is.”
He stared at the document.
Then whispered something that made the room feel suddenly colder.
“If she has that property…”
Dad closed his eyes.
Tyler finished the sentence.
“…then we don't need her car anymore.”
I stared at him.
“Then what do you need?”
Nobody answered.
Until I heard a sound upstairs.
A door locking.
May you like
From the inside.
And someone whispered my name.
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