He Gave Me Fifty Dollars to Live, I Left Him with Nothing novel · Chapter 22 of 32

Chapter 22: Closing Day

14 Ocean Terrace stood on a rise above the water, white stone with a slate roof and a lawn that ran to the cliff.

It was the house in Philip's story, the one he'd held up at the table.

At ten fifty on Monday, six cars were parked on its gravel drive.

I stood behind a hedge with Tobias, his lawyer and a deputy, and I watched the front door.

"Is the order signed?" I asked.

Tobias's lawyer, the small woman with the gray braid, patted her briefcase.

"The judge signed it at ten twenty, and the clerk stamped it herself. It freezes the sale and holds the proceeds with the court. We deliver it to whoever is holding the money."

"The title company."

"Yes."

"Then let's go in."

We walked up the drive in a line.

The front door was open.

Inside, the main room had been emptied of furniture, and the only things left were a folding table and ten chairs.

At the table sat a young woman with a laptop, a couple in good coats and a man with a clipboard.

Philip stood at the window in a gray suit with his hands behind his back, looking at the sea.

His attorney sat beside the title agent.

Philip heard our steps and turned.

For a moment his face did nothing at all.

Then it composed itself, and he smiled.

"Rosalind. Whatever are you doing here? This is a private closing."

"It's not private anymore."

The couple at the table looked from him to me.

"Excuse me," the woman in the good coat said. "Who is this?"

"My wife," Philip said smoothly. "She's unwell. She's been seeing someone for it."

"I'm his wife," I said. "And the beneficiary's mother."

I turned to the title agent.

"Please stop typing."

Tobias's lawyer stepped forward and laid the order on the table.

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