Chapter 4 - The Man Who Wanted the House
Marcus did not try to deny it.
That made Tasha angrier.
“How many times?”
“Tasha—”
“How many times have you met with my mother?”
“Three.”
Lorraine corrected him.
“Four.”
Marcus shot her a look.
Tasha laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“It wasn’t what she’s making it sound like.”
“You were secretly meeting my mother about the house I live in.”
“I thought Lorraine owned it.”
“That is not an answer.”
Marcus rubbed his jaw.
Lorraine walked toward the armchair as though she were merely watching a disagreement unfold.
Tasha pointed toward her.
“You stay right there.”
Lorraine stopped.
Tasha turned back to Marcus.
“Talk.”
Marcus glanced toward the stairs.
“The kids—”
“Already heard us fighting about six hundred dollars. Don’t suddenly become protective because your secret came out.”
He accepted that.
“Lorraine approached me.”
“When?”
“May.”
Three months earlier.
“What did she want?”
“She said she was thinking about selling the house.”
Tasha’s lips parted.
Lorraine intervened.
“I said I was considering my options.”
“You told him you were selling my home?”
“My property.”
Tasha ignored her.
“What did you say, Marcus?”
“At first? No.”
“At first.”
Marcus exhaled.
“She said she could sell it to me below market.”
Tasha stared.
The room seemed to shrink.
“You wanted to buy it.”
“I wanted to keep Jayden from losing his home if she sold.”
“By becoming my landlord?”
“No.”
“What happens after you buy someone’s house while they’re still living in it, Marcus?”
“I wasn’t going to throw you out.”
“How generous.”
“Tasha.”
“What was the price?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Two hundred ten thousand.”
Tasha looked around the room.
Similar homes in the neighborhood sold for almost three hundred thousand.
Lorraine’s low offer suddenly made the scheme feel more calculated.
“And you agreed?”
“I said I would consider it.”
Lorraine folded her arms.
“You did more than consider.”
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
Tasha saw it.
“What did you do?”
No answer.
“Marcus.”
“I gave her five thousand dollars.”
Tasha’s face went blank.
“For what?”
“Earnest money.”
Lorraine corrected him again.
“A deposit.”
“Same difference.”
“No,” Tasha said quietly.
“It isn’t.”
She knew enough from years working in medical billing and handling her own apartment leases before moving into Lillian’s house to understand that legitimate real-estate transactions left paper trails.
“Was there an agent?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Attorney?”
“Lorraine said hers was preparing documents.”
“Escrow company?”
Silence.
Tasha looked at Lorraine.
“You took five thousand dollars directly from him?”
“He knew what he was doing.”
Marcus snapped, “You said the title was clean.”
“It is.”
“Then show us.”
Lorraine’s eyes flashed.
“I don’t answer to you.”
Tasha stepped forward.
“You answer to me.”
Lorraine’s expression softened in that particular way Tasha knew too well.
Concern used as a weapon.
“Baby, Marcus is upsetting you.”
“Don’t call me baby.”
“Tasha.”
“No.”
Lorraine blinked.
“You’ve spent my entire life telling me not to question you because you were protecting me.”
“I was.”
“Then prove it.”
“I will not stand here while this man turns you against your own mother.”
Marcus shook his head.
“This man gave you five thousand dollars.”
Lorraine looked toward him.
“And you gave it voluntarily.”
“For a house you may not own.”
“I own it.”
“Document it.”
Tasha walked toward the front door.
Lorraine stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this conversation.”
“You invited me.”
“You invited yourself.”
“Tasha.”
“Bring me a certified copy of the deed. Not a picture. Not a story.”
“You don’t get to order me around.”
Tasha opened the door.
Lorraine did not move.
Then Jayden appeared halfway down the stairs.
Everyone saw him.
His expression was exhausted.
“Grandma.”
Lorraine softened instantly.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Are you selling our house?”
Lorraine froze.
Tasha closed her eyes.
Marcus’s face tightened.
“No one is selling anything,” Tasha said.
Jayden looked at Marcus.
“Did you try to buy it?”
Marcus opened his mouth.
The boy already knew.
“You did.”
“Jayden, I thought—”
“You were mad because Mom decided how to spend your six hundred dollars.”
Marcus stopped.
Jayden swallowed.
“But you were deciding where we get to live without telling us.”
The sentence silenced every adult in the room.
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Lorraine spoke first.
“You’re too young to understand property.”
Jayden looked at her.
“I understand secrets.”
Lorraine’s expression changed.
Tasha felt something inside her break.
Not loudly.
Cleanly.
She opened the door wider.
“Leave.”
Lorraine stared.
“You are making a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
“You won’t manage this place without me.”
“I’ve been managing it while paying you.”
“You think insurance and taxes are the same as ownership?”
“I think I want to know what I’ve been paying for.”
Lorraine stepped toward the door.
Then paused beside Tasha.
Her voice dropped.
“You think Marcus is on your side?”
Tasha did not respond.
“He was ready to put his name on this house.”
Marcus stiffened.
Lorraine walked outside.
Before Tasha closed the door, Lorraine turned.
“And if you go digging through old paperwork, don’t blame me for what you find.”
The door shut.
Nobody spoke.
Jayden went back upstairs.
Marcus reached for his keys.
Tasha said, “Don’t.”
He stopped.
“You don’t get to disappear because that got uncomfortable.”
“I wasn’t disappearing.”
“Then sit down.”
Marcus sat.
Tasha remained standing.
“Show me everything.”
“What?”
“Every message. Every paper. Every dollar.”
Marcus unlocked his phone.
Then opened his work bag.
From inside, he removed a thin manila folder.
Tasha stared at it.
“You brought that here?”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
He slid the folder toward her.
Inside was a draft purchase agreement.
Lorraine Brooks listed as seller.
Marcus Reed listed as buyer.
Tasha scanned the legal description.
Then something near the bottom caught her eye.
Seller represents that she is the sole lawful owner of the property.
Beneath it was a signature.
Lorraine Brooks.
Tasha stared.
“What?”
Marcus leaned closer.
She touched the signature.
“That isn’t how my mother signs her name.”
Marcus frowned.
“You sure?”
“I’ve seen her signature my whole life.”
“Maybe she signed quickly.”
Tasha shook her head.
“No.”
Her finger moved to the line below.
The initials beside a handwritten correction were different again.
Tasha looked at Marcus.
“Who gave you this?”
“Lorraine.”
“No.”
She looked toward the closed front door.
“I mean who prepared it?”
Marcus checked his messages.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
He turned the phone around.
A text from Lorraine from May.
I had a friend draw it up. No need to involve lawyers until closing.
Tasha looked down at the agreement.
For the first time, fear replaced anger.
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Not fear of losing an argument.
Fear that the house around them had been turned into evidence.
