Chapter 4 - THE SON LINDA ALWAYS SAVED
Linda’s explanation came the next morning.
Not apology.
Explanation.
Eric had made mistakes.
The economy was bad.
His contracting business lost two major clients.
His ex-partner took money.
Taxes piled up.
The refinance was supposed to consolidate everything at a lower rate.
“The house is sitting there,” Linda said.
Jenna stared.
“It is your home.”
“Exactly.”
“And Dad’s trust asset.”
“Paperwork.”
“And half my future inheritance.”
Linda’s face hardened.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Money.”
Jenna laughed.
“You are refinancing the house for Eric and accusing me of caring about money?”
Linda crossed her arms.
“Eric needs help now. You’re stable.”
That sentence stopped Jenna.
There.
The family tax on competence.
Jenna had a job.
Savings.
No debt crisis.
So her share was considered available.
Eric failed loudly.
So resources flowed toward him.
Then Linda said:
“You always land on your feet.”
Jenna answered:
“Mason was sitting in the rain.”
Linda looked away.
“That was Eric’s decision.”
“You stood beside him.”
“He was upset.”
“Who?”
Linda looked at her.
“Eric.”
Jenna almost laughed.
Of course.
Then Eric arrived.
No whiskey now.
Lawyer beside him.
His attorney, Mark Sloan, was polished and calm.
He did not defend locking Mason outside.
He separated it.
“Whatever happened with the child is a family matter being reviewed independently. The financial matter is different.”
Smart.
Then he argued the refinance was authorized by Linda as lifetime occupant and intended to preserve the house from future instability.
Jenna’s signature?
Administrative error.
Eric believed Daniel’s office had approved a beneficiary acknowledgment.
Daniel laughed.
“No.”
Mark continued.
No loan had closed.
No money had moved.
No actual loss.
Attempt.
Not completed fraud.
Then Jenna asked Eric:
“Why did you need three hundred ten thousand?”
He looked at her.
“Business rescue.”
“Your debt is two twenty-eight.”
“Working capital.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Then Mark answered:
“Confidential business obligations.”
Jenna smiled.
“Which means gambling?”
Eric’s face changed.
Not gambling.
Something else.
Later, Daniel found it.
Eric had invested $72,000 into a private real-estate flip with Linda’s savings.
The project failed.
He had never told her.
The refinance was partly designed to replace Linda’s money before she discovered it.
Jenna stared.
So Eric was not only asking Linda to save him.
He was hiding that he had already taken from her.
Then the contractor called.
Roof tear-off complete.
Temporary membrane installed.
House safe.
Eric complained the house looked “destroyed.”
Jenna sent him the permit.
Scheduled work.
Authorized access.
No sabotage.
That mattered.
Then Ray Donnelly added:
“We found something under the old roofing.”
“What?”
A metal document box wedged in the attic cavity.
Old.
Water-stained.
Name written on top:
May you like
FRANK MILLER.
Their father.
