My Sister Stole My Wedding, So I Took Her Husband's Company novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Dad on the Porch

My father was sitting on the porch swing when we pulled up, with his elbows on his knees and a manila folder in his hands.

He looked ten years older than he had at brunch.

Winifred stood in the open doorway behind him, in her bathrobe, holding a cast iron skillet at her hip.

"He wouldn't come in," she said to me. "I wouldn't have let him."

Maxwell got out of the car after me and stayed by the bumper.

My father looked up and saw him.

Then he looked at my face, and I watched him work out where I had spent the night.

"Hazel," he said. "Please. I have a copy for you."

He held out the folder.

I knew what was in it.

"Dad, I'm not signing it."

"You don't understand."

"Then make me understand."

"If you sign, it's over. Everyone gets what they want." His voice cracked. "Your mother and I keep the house. Brooke gets a good husband. You get a settlement. Preston promised."

"What did he promise?"

"He'll pay the balance. The rest of it. He said as soon as the page comes in."

"The rest of what?"

He opened his mouth, and in his pocket his phone began to ring.

It buzzed against the wood of the swing and slid toward the edge.

My father grabbed at it, and Winifred got there first.

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