Chapter 2 - The Deal Nobody Saw Coming
By eight thirty, the For Sale sign was gone.
By nine, Walter had signed the final documents.
By ten, a moving truck was parked outside the house.
The realtor, Daniel Brooks, looked confused.
“You're sure you want to move this fast?”
Walter smiled.
“I have been waiting twenty years.”
Daniel glanced at the paperwork.
The house had been on the market for almost six months.
Most buyers had walked away because of its age.
Walter saw something different.
The foundation was solid.
The property was large.
The neighborhood was excellent.
And the location was perfect.
Across the street was the house where his son had just told him he was a freeloader.
Walter had no intention of using the house to punish Ethan.
At least, that was what he told himself.
The truth was more complicated.
There were things Ethan did not know.
Things Walter had hidden because he believed silence protected his family.
But silence had a cost.
And Walter was finally tired of paying it.
Inside the new house, he walked slowly from room to room.
The kitchen was outdated.
The wallpaper was peeling.
The staircase creaked.
But sunlight poured through the windows.
Walter smiled.
“This will do.”
Daniel handed him the keys.
“One more thing.”
Walter turned.
“The previous owner left something in the basement. We couldn't identify it.”
“What kind of something?”
“A locked cabinet.”
Walter frowned.
“Did you open it?”
“No.”
Daniel handed him a second key.
Walter took it.
“Why didn't you mention this before?”
“Honestly, I forgot.”
Walter laughed.
“People forget strange things.”
Daniel left.
Walter walked downstairs.
The basement smelled of dust and old wood.
At the far end stood a metal cabinet.
Walter inserted the key.
The door opened.
Inside were old files.
Most were meaningless.
Receipts.
Tax documents.
Maintenance records.
Then Walter saw a photograph.
He picked it up.
His hands stopped moving.
The photograph showed a young woman standing on the porch of the house.
Beside her stood a young Walter.
And in the woman's arms was a baby.
Ethan.
Walter's breathing slowed.
He turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
June 14, 1986.
Walter closed his eyes.
He remembered that day.
He remembered the argument.
He remembered the hospital.
He remembered the promise.
And he remembered the person he had spent decades trying to forget.
At the bottom of the cabinet was another envelope.
Walter opened it.
There was only one sentence.
He deserves to know why you left.
Walter sat down.
For the first time since buying the house, he looked frightened.
Across the street, Vanessa stood behind her kitchen window.
She had watched the moving truck arrive.
She had watched Walter enter.
And she could not understand what she was seeing.
She grabbed Ethan's arm.
“Come here.”
Ethan walked over.
“What?”
She pointed.
“Your father bought that house.”
Ethan stared.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
“He couldn't afford that.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Exactly.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Maybe he borrowed money.”
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
Vanessa watched Walter disappear behind the curtains.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“Find out.”
