The picture was clear.
Derek wasn’t just overextended.
He was in free fall.
And the bragging, the shoulder pats, the comments about working harder, that was all scaffolding around a building that was already collapsing.
I wasn’t angry anymore.
I was just tired.
Mid-July, I met with Patricia again.
She laid out my options cleanly.
“You own the duplex. That’s settled. The tenants’ leases transferred to you as the new owner, and I’ve already sent the required notifications. Your parents’ HELOC is paid off and the line is closed. The remaining question is what you want to do about Derek.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you want to confront him? Sell him back the property? Forgive and forget? Because right now, he’s going to receive formal notice of the ownership transfer. Standard 30-day notification from the title company. That letter is going out next week regardless.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“I don’t want revenge.”
“I know you don’t, but you should be prepared for what happens when he opens that letter.”
She was right.
I asked her to draft a summary of the situation, something clear and factual that I could present to my family if it came to that.
Dates, amounts, property records, the HELOC, just documentation.
“Paper doesn’t have emotions,” she said. “That’s why it works.”
Uncle Ray would have liked Patricia.
The last week of July, my family had a regular Sunday dinner at my parents’ house.
Derek showed up late, which was unusual.
Chapter 6: Derek’s False Bravado
He was wearing a new watch, which was very usual.
He sat down at the table with this energy.
I recognized this amped-up, performative confidence he puts on when he’s about to announce something.
Sure enough, between the salad and the main course, he clinked his glass.
“So, I’ve got some news,” he said. “I’ve been working on something big. I’m not going to get into all the details yet, but I’m about to close a deal that’s going to change everything for me and Vanessa. We’re talking serious money. Life-changing.”
Mom literally clasped her hands together.
“Oh, Derek! What kind of deal?”
“Commercial real estate,” he said, and I swear he glanced at me when he said it. “A group of investors is developing a mixed-use property on the east side. They needed someone with my connections to bring in the medical tenants. I’m getting a piece of the equity.”
I knew exactly which deal he was talking about.
The Greenfield Crossing development on Route 12.
I knew about it because the lead investor, a guy named Paul Breer, had approached me about it four months ago.
I’d passed because the zoning variance was shaky and two of the anchor tenants had already pulled out.
The deal fell apart three weeks ago.
Breer sent an email to his entire investor list announcing the project was suspended indefinitely.
I was CC’d on it.
Derek was either lying about being involved or he was involved and hadn’t been told it was dead.
Neither option was great.
I ate my roast chicken and didn’t say a word.
Mom was already planning how to redecorate the guest room with Derek’s imaginary windfall.
Dad asked how much the equity stake was worth.
Vanessa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
As I left that night, Margot caught me in the driveway.
“That deal he’s talking about,” she said quietly.
“Yeah, it’s dead, isn’t it?”
“Three weeks ago.”
She shook her head.
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing yet. He’s going to get a letter next week that’s going to do all the talking for me.”
Margot leaned against her car and looked up at the sky.
“Uncle Ray would have handled it the same way.”
“I hope so.”
I drove home that night thinking about what my brother’s face was going to look like when he opened an envelope from the county recorder’s office and saw my name on his property.
I didn’t have to imagine it for long.
The letter went out on a Tuesday.
I know this because Patricia called me that morning to confirm.
“Ownership transfer notification for the Birchwood Lane property has been sent via certified mail to the previous owner’s address on file. He’ll need to sign for it.”
“How long before he gets it?”
“Two to three business days.”