Chapter 3

3: 3

I hadn't expected to run into Wade's family when I got to the Fairview realty office.

Somehow they'd caught wind of the demolition rumors, and they were there digging for information.

"Agent Lambert, people are saying our complex might get slated for demolition. Is it true or not?"

The moment Daniel Lambert realized they weren't there to buy, his interest dried up.

"Demolition? What are you dreaming about? That rumor's been going around thirty years at least. The place is falling apart, and has it come down yet?"

Rhonda wasn't ready to give up. She leaned in closer.

"But I heard this time it's for real. The plans already went through!"

"Went through my foot." Daniel rolled his eyes and dropped his gaze back to his phone.

"If it were real, would half the people in your complex still be willing to sell? Quit holding up my business. You want to sell, register. You don't, get out."

Shot down cold, the three of them lost face and were slinking toward the door when they spotted me standing outside.

Lucas reacted worst of all.

"Alma, what are you doing here? Are you sniffing around about the demolition too?"

I didn't bother explaining. I walked straight past him.

Daniel had been slouched and barely bothering a second ago, but the moment he looked up and saw it was me, his face folded into so many creases you could squeeze water out of the smile.

"Ms. Fox! You made it, sit, sit. I just finished pulling together every unit for sale in the complex!"

I dragged over a chair, sat down, and got straight to it.

"Every resale unit for sale in the Fairview complex, clean title, owner genuinely willing to sell. List them all out for me."

"I want ten units minimum, cash, full payment. Right price, I'll sign the same day."

"Te—ten units?"

Daniel thought he'd misheard. His eyes went round.

"Ms. Fox, you're not joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

He came alive like something had lit a fire under him and dove headfirst into the computer, digging through files, too busy to even pour me a glass of water.

Lucas, standing off to the side, went through half a dozen expressions before he couldn't help fishing.

"Alma, you're buying up this many run-down units. Is there really word it's getting torn down?"

I glanced up at him.

"Sure. It's getting torn down. So why don't you two keep your places and hold off on selling?"

That choked him off.

He didn't dare gamble. He was in debt, and what if the demolition never happened?

Besides, nothing had moved for all these years, so why would it suddenly move the minute he was selling?

The rumor was obviously just another line to reel in fools.

"I never said I wouldn't sell!"

"It's just that the money you're offering really is on the low side. If you could go a little higher—"

I set the listing sheet down and cut him off with a smile.

"Right, good thing I ran into you. I've been rethinking those two units. One-point-two million is still too much. Let's just forget it."

"I'll buy elsewhere straight through the agency, save you all the trouble of moving back and forth."

The words landed and Lucas froze on the spot, every bit of his scheming wiped clean off his face.

Wade panicked and slapped him across the face.

"You useless waste, good for nothing but ruining things. What are you making a fuss for!"

Then he turned back to me, all smiles and apologies.

"Come on, Alma, we'll stick with the original price."

Rhonda rushed to smooth it over.

"Yes, yes, yes, a deal's a deal, you can't go back on it. We'll finish moving out tonight, and first thing tomorrow we'll hand over the keys and transfer the title!"

As she said it she shot Lucas a vicious glare and hissed under her breath.

"You shut your mouth! You wreck this with one more stupid word, you can pay off that debt yourself!"

Lucas's face went white, then dark, but in the end he didn't dare make another sound.

He knew better than anyone that if he lost me, he'd never find a second sucker willing to pay one-point-two million for two run-down little units.

But I wasn't done.

"Hey, don't rush off just yet. There's an old account we still need to settle!"

"Last year you said Grandma broke her leg and borrowed a hundred thousand from my mom. You wrote the IOU yourself, said you'd pay it back in three months. It's been almost a year now. And there's still my mom's gold bracelet and her necklace."

I pulled a crumpled IOU out of my bag, slow and easy, and pushed it across.

"Principal and interest, that's two hundred thousand. I'll deduct it straight from the one-point-two million. Tomorrow at the transfer I'll only be giving you one million."

"No way!" Rhonda blew up on the spot. "Your mom gave that willingly! What right do you have to dock it!"

"Willingly?" I pulled out my phone and opened the transfer records and the chat log, my tone flat. "It says loan, plain as day, right there. You want me to send it to the family group chat and let all the relatives weigh in?"

I paused, then lifted my eyes to Lucas, whose face had gone pale.

"If you two don't agree, then I won't buy the units, and you can figure out how to pay off your loans yourselves."

Lucas panicked at once, grabbing Rhonda before she could throw a scene, and nodded through gritted teeth. "Fine! Two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand!"

But the ugly menace in his eyes was something he couldn't quite hide.

I didn't care.