“I didn’t.”
“Then why didn’t you give it back when you found out?”
“Because by the time I found out, I’d also found the HELOC, and I realized that if I gave you back the duplex without addressing the bigger problem, Mom and Dad’s house would still be at risk. So, I chose to protect them first.”
Vanessa spoke for the first time.
“How long have you known about the HELOC?”
She wasn’t asking me.
She was looking at Derek.
He didn’t answer.
“Derek, how long?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me. Did you know when you bought me that anniversary trip to Cabo? Did you know when you leased the new car? When you told me we were in great shape financially last Christmas?”
Derek’s jaw clenched.
“I was trying to fix it.”
Vanessa laughed.
Not a happy laugh.
The kind that sounds like it’s being pulled out through a sieve.
“You were trying to fix it by pretending it didn’t exist. That’s not fixing. That’s performing.”
Mom was crying quietly.
Patricia handed her a tissue from a box she’d apparently positioned for exactly this purpose.
The woman is a professional.
I pulled out the proposal.
“I don’t want to fight about this,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about what’s fair, and here’s what I’m willing to do.”
I laid out the terms.
I’d sell the duplex back to Derek at my auction price, which was significantly below market value.
No interest.
Five-year payment plan, monthly installments he could actually manage.
Two conditions.
He had to sit down with a certified financial counselor and develop a real plan for his debts.
And he had to fully disclose his financial situation to Vanessa.
“This isn’t charity,” I said. “It’s an off-ramp, but it only works if you’re honest with all of us and with yourself.”
Derek stared at the proposal.
I watched him read it twice.
Then he pushed it away.
“I’m not taking a handout from my little brother.”
“It’s not a handout. It’s a buyback at cost.”
“Same thing.”
“Derek.”
Vanessa’s voice was flat.
“Read the terms again. Read them.”
He didn’t.
“Fine,” she said. “Then I will.”
She pulled the paper back and read it silently.
When she was done, she looked at me.
“This is more than fair.”
“It’s humiliating,” Derek said.
Dad walked back to the table.
“You know what’s humiliating? Getting a call from your lawyer telling you someone paid off a lien on your house that you didn’t know existed. That’s humiliating.”
He sat down.
“Take the deal, Derek.”
Derek stood up.
For a second, I thought he was going to leave.
He actually took a step toward the door.
Then he stopped.
I watched his shoulders drop about an inch, like something deflated.
He turned around and sat back down.
“I need time,” he said.
“You have 30 days to accept the terms,” Patricia said. “After that, the offer expires and the property remains with Callaway Creek Holdings.”
Derek nodded once.
Then he got up and walked out without saying goodbye.
Vanessa stayed.
She looked at me across the table with an expression I’ll never forget.