Condemned by My Sister novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Locks

The front hall of our house had a staircase with a dark wooden rail.

I had not seen it in five years.

I stood at the bottom of it beside Marianne, and it looked smaller than I remembered.

Corbin had been given an hour to pack.

He came down the stairs with a single bag and stopped on the third step.

A man in a gray overcoat came in through the front door behind him.

"Good evening, Ms. Thurlow," the man said. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Who called you?" Marianne asked.

"Mr. Thurlow did."

"I'm sure he did."

The man was the family's lawyer.

He took a folder out of his case and held it in both hands.

"I'll be brief," he said. "Corbin was adopted by you six years ago."

"In the eyes of the law he is your son and your heir. He has the same standing in this house as Eli had."

"Had," Marianne said.

"I'm saying he cannot be put out in the street tonight.

He is entitled to written notice and a reasonable time to find a place."

Corbin set down his bag.

He looked at her with his eyes wide and wet.

For a second I thought he might have forgotten what he'd done.

"You don't have to do this," he said. "I'm not asking for anything. I only have one family, Marianne. You."

He gripped the rail.

"I was fifteen when you took me in. I had nobody, and I thought I'd died and gone somewhere good."

His voice caught, and he brought a hand up to his face.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Condemned by My Sister from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.