Chapter 3 - The Contract Attorney
Claire wasn't ready to surrender. Entitlement that has been nurtured for twenty-five years doesn't disappear in five minutes.
“You can’t just kick us out!” she yelled, her voice pitching high. “We’re family! And besides, tenant laws protect us! We brought our luggage in! You have to give us thirty days' legal notice!”
I couldn't help but smile.
Before I stepped back to manage our household and family affairs, I had spent fifteen years working as a senior contracts attorney for one of the top corporate law firms in the state. Negotiating terms with ruthless developers was my specialty. Dealing with an entitled twenty-five-year-old was barely a warm-up.
“Tenant rights require legal occupancy,” I replied with crisp precision. “You crossed my threshold at eleven o'clock last night without a lease, without a sublease agreement, and without the written consent of the sole deed holder. In the eyes of the law, you are not tenants. You are uninvited overnight guests whose license to remain on the premises has just been revoked.”
I looked at my watch.
“It is now 6:12 a.m. You have forty-eight minutes.”
Dean turned to Robert in desperation. “Robert, do something! You promised us!”
Robert looked up, his face twisted in misery. “Evelyn, please. She’s my daughter. Where are they supposed to go? They gave up the lease on their downtown apartment!”
“That sounds like poor planning on their part,” I replied smoothly. “Perhaps if Claire spent less time laminating schedules for other people and more time managing her own finances, she wouldn't find herself homeless at dawn.”
“You’re a monster!” Claire screamed, tears of rage spilling over her mascara. “I always knew you hated me! You’ve been waiting for a chance to throw me out!”
“No, Claire,” I said, stepping closer until she had to look directly into my eyes. “For seven years, I sent you birthday gifts, paid off your credit card debts behind your father’s back so you wouldn't stress him out, and hosted your bridal shower when your own mother didn't bother to show up. I didn't hate you. I tolerated your disrespect because I loved your father. But last night, you handed me a chore list and told me I was ‘home all day anyway.’ You mistook my patience for subservience. And that was your fatal mistake.”
Claire took a step back, the harsh reality finally settling in.
There was no negotiation.
May you like
There was no loophole.
She was standing in the home of a woman who held every single card.
