“You could rent a house while you save,” I suggested, naive as I was at the time.
Vanessa laughed softly, sending shivers down my spine.
« Well, Miss Stella… we’re here to offer you something much better. Something we’ll all benefit from. »
Ryan finally lifted his head.
« Mom, we were thinking about your piece of land. The one in Greenwood. The one your father left you. »
My country.
A piece of land George had bought twenty years ago with his savings. A piece of land that had appreciated year after year as the neighborhood changed. Six thousand square feet of security—my inheritance, my safety net, my proof that George and I had built something substantial.
“And what about my country?” I asked, my mouth suddenly went parched.
Vanessa leaned forward and, as usual, took charge of the conversation.
At your age, maintaining a piece of land like that is complicated. Taxes, maintenance—and you don’t even use it. It just sits there gathering dust.
« It’s my inheritance, » I said, more sharply than I’d expected. “What George left me.”
“Exactly,” Ryan interrupted in a soft, convincing voice. « It’s your inheritance, Mom. But it could be so much more. We could build a beautiful house there—big. Two stories. With a garden. And then you could live with us. »
He meant real family.
As if the past four years had never happened.
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