He Locked Me Out Now He’s Begging Me Back Chapter 23
So they weren’t just living in my house.
They were planning to use its equity to pave the next step for themselves, too.
And my role was to sign, take on the debt, and carry the risk.
“I’m not agreeing to that.”
Tessa’s voice turned cold immediately. “Why not?”
“Because that is a joint asset belonging to Daniel and me. He cannot take out a loan against it on his own.”
“We’ll make the payments. We’re not asking you to give us free money. Once I buy a place, I’ll move out and you can move back into the main house. It’s good for everyone.”
“Using my assets as collateral is not good for me.”
“You just can’t stand to see us do well!” The helpless, pitiful mask finally fell away. “Claire, you have a high salary and savings. Why can’t you even give us a place to live? This is my father’s house. He has every right to decide how it’s used!”
“My name is on the deed, too. I paid sixty percent of the down payment, and I’ve covered most of the mortgage these past few years.”
She gave a short, mocking laugh. “Married people keeping score like that—what’s the point?”
“When you were taking things from me, you kept score just fine.”
Silence.
Then I reminded her, one word at a time, “My master bedroom became yours. My office became Noah’s. My right to live there became a twenty-one-day guest pass. But now that we’re talking about home equity, suddenly you remember that marital property isn’t supposed to be divided.”
Her breathing turned fast and sharp. “Dad is never going to let you act like this.”
“Then your father can speak to my lawyer through his.”
I hung up and muted all the messages she sent afterward.
When I got back to the table, Marisol looked over at me.
I didn’t explain.
I just picked up the bowl of hot soup in front of me and finished it, spoonful by spoonful.
From this moment on, their grievances, their blame, and their needs had nothing to do with me.
I would not answer anymore.
The next morning, I shut my office door and called my lawyer.
When she answered, I said calmly,
“I’d like to discuss the process for forcing the sale of jointly owned property.”