He Wanted a Fake Divorce for the Payout, I Gave Him a Real One for the Payback Chapter 04

He Wanted a Fake Divorce for the Payout, I Gave Him a Real One for the Payback Chapter 04

Darren and Lorna both went still.

“The apartment… was your brother’s?” Darren stammered.

“The property deed is in the safe. You thought I didn’t know?”

I stared straight at him.

“You were planning to pass this apartment off as yours and use it to cheat the city inspectors out of money? Dream on. Darren, that’s fraud. And Lorna, what you’re doing is either bigamy or adultery dragged into a criminal scheme. Either way, it’s enough to bury both of you.”

Darren’s eyes darted around the room frantically before a greasy, placating smile broke across his face.

“Clara, stop making a scene. We’re family. We can talk about the apartment, can’t we? As long as you keep your mouth shut, once the relocation payout comes through, I’ll give you twenty percent.”

“Twenty percent?” I shook my head. “I want all of it.”

“All of it?” Lorna shrieked. “Not a chance.”

“Then we’ll see.”

I turned and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

I splashed freezing water onto my face, the icy sting bringing everything into sharp focus.

In the mirror, my wet hair clung to my cheeks, but my eyes looked frighteningly bright.

Twenty percent?

That was what you tossed to a beggar.

What I wanted was to send those two straight to hell.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from an unknown number.

[Keep your mouth shut, or your parents in that nursing home will pay for it.]

A photo followed.

In it, my father Frank was lying helpless in bed while someone pinched his nose and forced oatmeal into his mouth, his frail features twisted in absolute terror.

My hand shook, and the phone nearly slipped into the sink.

Was this Darren?

Or Lorna?

Whoever it was, the move was vicious.

That night, I opened the bathroom door.

Darren and Lorna were sitting on the couch, their faces grim and adversarial.

When Darren saw me come out, he crushed his cigarette into the ashtray so hard sparks scattered.

“Thought it through?” Darren asked.

“I have.” I walked over and sat on the stool across from them. “Twenty percent, then. But I want it in cash.”

“Fine.” Lorna answered before Darren could, a smug note in her voice. “Once the payout arrives, you’ll get it.”

“One more thing.” I looked at Lorna.

“You two pay for my parents’ long-term care. If even one hair on their heads is harmed, I won’t let this go.”

“No problem.” Darren waved a hand with a sickening display of false generosity. “That was always my responsibility anyway.”

I laughed coldly inside.

Responsibility? Now he remembered the word?

“Then bring me the property deed.” I held out my hand.

Darren hesitated, then got up and went into the bedroom. A moment later, he came back with a folder and threw it at me.

“Check it if you want. Don’t start anything.”

I opened it. The name on the deed was indeed Nathan Whitaker, my late brother.

Darren didn’t possess a single shred of legal entitlement to this place.

“The deed needs to be transferred,” I said.

“Transferred to who?” Darren asked warily.

“To me,” I said.

“I’m Nathan’s sister. I have an inheritance claim. Put the property in my name first, and then I’ll take the deed to the city inspectors Office to sign the compensation agreement. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Otherwise, why would an unrelated woman have any right to claim Nathan’s property?”

Lorna and Darren exchanged a glance. Clearly, they had not expected me to make that move.

“Well…” Darren scratched his neck nervously. “That is risky about it.”

“What doesn’t seem right? You want the money, don’t you? The apartment goes under my name, I handle the bureaucratic red tape, and once the money comes through, we execute our financial split. Unless you were planning to cut me out entirely?”

I tucked the deed into my pocket.

“If this doesn’t work for you, I’ll call the police right now and report you for stealing someone else’s property. And…”

I pointed at Lorna’s belly.

“For the affair. For the fraud. For whatever else the cops decide to put on the report.”

Darren clenched his teeth. The flesh along his jaw twitched. “Fine. We’ll transfer it to you. But we’re putting it in writing first. The split has to be clear.”

“Put it in writing.”

That night, the three of us sat in the living room and wrote up the most absurd agreement I had ever seen.

In black and white, it stated clearly that once the redevelopment compensation was paid out, I would receive sixty percent lion’s share, leaving them with forty.

The apartment would temporarily be transferred into my name as collateral.

After the handwritten agreement was finished, we signed and pressed our thumbprints beside our names.

Darren stared at the red prints, murderous hatred burning behind his eyes.

“Clara, you really are ruthless,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Compared to you two, I’m still learning.” I stood and went back to my “bed,” the couch.

That night, I slept deeply.

In my dream, Nathan was wearing his old blue work jacket, smiling at me.

He held out a bag of carnival candy and said, “Clara, try some. It’s sweet.”

I reached for it eagerly, but my fingers passed right through thin air. Then Nathan vanished, and a huge truck came roaring toward me.

I woke with a start.

Morning had already come.

The living room was silent. Darren and Lorna’s bedroom door stood open, and no one was inside.

My heart lurched. I jumped off the couch and rushed into the bedroom.

The blanket was neatly folded, the smooth sheets betraying no sign of recent occupancy.

The closet door hung open, and half the clothes were gone.

The jewelry box on the dresser had disappeared.

Most important, the metal cash box from the nightstand was gone.

Nathan’s entire life savings were gone, along with the spare key to the apartment.

I ran to the front door. It was wide open.

Downstairs, an engine started. I rushed onto the balcony just in time to see Darren’s car pull away from the curb and disappear down the street.

Those two bastards had run.