“I also know this is probably right.”
“Also fair.”
She wiped under one eye.
“I want more time eventually.”
“You should.”
She looked at him.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
Megan laughed bitterly.
“You've gotten annoyingly reasonable.”
“Trauma.”
She almost smiled.
Then she hugged him.
Not romantic.
Not reconciliation.
The embrace of two people finally accepting that the marriage was over while parenthood was not.
That night, Adrian sat on the porch with Ivy.
Noah asleep upstairs.
Crickets loud.
New railing solid beneath Adrian's arm.
He said:
“I want this.”
Ivy looked toward him.
“What?”
“This.”
He gestured between them.
“Whatever it is.”
“I want it to keep going.”
Ivy studied him.
“You sure?”
“No.”
She laughed.
“That is a terrible answer.”
“It's honest.”
Ivy looked toward the street.
Then back.
“Okay.”
Adrian's heart beat faster.
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
He leaned toward her.
Stopped.
Ivy raised an eyebrow.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“If you make me wait another month, I'm charging interest.”
He laughed.
Then kissed her.
It was not reckless.
That surprised him.
He expected fireworks, guilt, panic, some dramatic awareness that he was betraying the wreckage of his old life.
Instead it felt quiet.
Warm.
Long overdue.
Ivy touched the side of his face.
Adrian's hand rested at her waist.
When they separated, both stayed close.
“You okay?”
she asked.
“No.”
Ivy smiled.
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because if you said yes, I'd assume you're lying.”
He kissed her again.
The fraud investigation moved faster after that.
Sonia Reyes contacted Adrian directly.
She explained that his father's documents matched a larger pattern.
Pope's companies targeted homes with substantial equity.
False loans were filed using forged signatures and invalid notarizations.
Some families never challenged them.
The money moved through several entities.
Pinnacle was only the visible piece.
Adrian asked the question that had bothered him for months.
“Did my father know?”
Reyes paused.
“We found two letters sent to him.”
Adrian's stomach tightened.
“What letters?”
“Collection notices.”
“When?”
“About three months before his death.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Did he respond?”
“One handwritten note.”
Reyes emailed a scan.
Adrian opened it.
His father's handwriting.
Uneven near the bottom.
I never borrowed this money. Stop contacting me. My son is handling my affairs.
Adrian stared.
His son.