Chapter 14 - The Siblings Choose Sides
Margot arrived furious.
Nolan arrived embarrassed.
For once, they came together.
Denton put coffee on the table.
Nobody touched it.
Margot opened with accusation.
“You’re forcing Dad to sell Hanover.”
“No.”
“You’re demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“I’m asking for the accounting on property I own.”
She stared at me.
“What?”
Nolan looked equally surprised.
I showed them the deed.
For nearly a minute, nobody spoke.
Margot read it twice.
Then she looked at me.
“You own one-third?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since the day they bought it.”
Her expression shifted.
I knew that look.
She was recalculating inheritance.
“Does Mom know?”
“Yes.”
Margot sat back.
“That’s unbelievable.”
I almost felt relieved.
Then she continued.
“If you push this now, it changes the estate.”
There it was again.
Money first.
Nolan looked at her.
“Are you serious?”
“What?”
“Karen just found out Mom and Dad hid income from property she owns.”
“I understand that.”
“No.”
“You’re worried about what you get later.”
Margot glared at him.
“Easy for you to say.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom already helped you with college.”
Nolan laughed.
“She paid $18,000 toward my loans.”
“She gave you a down payment of sixty thousand.”
Margot flushed.
“That was different.”
I stared at both of them.
This was the family system in miniature.
Every kindness had a ledger.
Every gift bought silence.
Every person knew exactly what everyone else had received.
Except me.
I had been paying in.
Nolan turned toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For all of it.”
Margot scoffed.
“Oh, please.”
Nolan ignored her.
“I knew Mom treated Willa differently.”
“I kept quiet because I didn’t want to lose what Mom and Dad might leave us.”
He looked ashamed.
“That makes me a coward.”
My eyes burned.
Not because the apology fixed anything.
Because somebody in my family finally named their behavior without making me do it for them.
Margot stood.
“This is insane.”
“Mom and Dad gave us everything.”
I looked at her.
“They gave you things.”
“That isn’t the same as giving you everything.”
She grabbed her coat.
“At least don’t pretend this is about Willa anymore.”
I stood too.
“It started with Willa.”
“But it was never only about one dollar.”
Margot left.
Nolan stayed.
Before he went home, he said something quietly.
“Mom planned Christmas because she wanted you to understand you couldn’t challenge her.”
I looked at him.
“Why would she think I was going to?”
May you like
Nolan hesitated.
“Because Dad had started talking about changing the estate.”
