“Before you start repainting the place, there are a few things you should know.”
My mother pressed a hand to her chest.
“Frank,” she whispered.
Jason continued.
“The contract you brought me transferred my ownership of the property. That part is true.”
My father nodded stiffly.
“Of course it did.”
Jason kept reading.
“But what you may not have realized is that I only owned half of the house.”
Silence. The kind of silence that falls when a storm is about to break. Jason blinked.
“What?” he said.
My father stepped forward.
“Read the rest.”
Jason continued.
“The other half of the house was legally owned by Daniel. When we married, he became co-owner through the refinancing agreement we signed last year.”
My father’s face turned pale.
“That’s not possible,” he muttered.
Jason’s voice wavered as he read the next line.
“Yesterday afternoon, Daniel finalized the sale of his half of the property.”
My mother grabbed the edge of the counter.
“Sold it to who?” she whispered.
Jason looked down at the page again.
“To a property investment company based in Cincinnati.”
My father snatched the letter from Jason’s hands.
“Let me see that.”
He read the next paragraph himself, his lips tightening with every word.
“The company will be contacting you shortly to discuss the terms of shared ownership. According to Ohio law, they now have the right to request either a buyout or a full property sale.”
Jason stared at him.
“Wait, wait. What does that mean?”
My father looked up slowly.
“It means,” he said through clenched teeth, “you don’t own the house.”
Jason laughed nervously.
“Sure I do. Emily signed it over.”
“Half of it,” my father snapped.
My mother sank into one of the kitchen chairs, the only piece of furniture left in the house.
“But why would she do this?” she asked weakly.
Jason rubbed his face.
“This doesn’t make any sense.”
My father flipped the letter over and kept reading.
“By the time you receive this letter, Daniel and I will be on the road. We’ve decided to start our life somewhere else.”
My father slammed the letter down on the counter.
“That ungrateful girl.”
Jason paced across the empty living room.
“So what now?” he said. “We just talk to the company and buy their half.”
My father hesitated.
“How much money do you have, Jason?”
Jason stopped pacing.
“Well, none right now, but once the business starts…”
My father cut him off.
“Exactly.”
My mother looked up.
“Frank, surely there’s some way to fix this.”
At that exact moment, Jason’s phone buzzed. He glanced down at the screen. Unknown number. He answered.