Chapter 2 — The Mansion That Wasn't Waiting
That evening...
Brent's SUV rolled through the gates of Redwood Crest Drive.
His mother, Diane, climbed out first.
Karen followed, carrying shopping bags from Miami.
They laughed as Brent typed the keypad code.
Nothing.
He frowned.
Typed again.
Still nothing.
Then the front door opened.
Not because of the code.
Because a stranger answered it.
A tall man in jeans and a navy sweater looked calmly at them.
"Can I help you?"
Brent blinked.
"Why are you in my house?"
The man smiled politely.
"Your house?"
"I'm Elliot Barnes."
"I bought this property three days ago."
Diane laughed.
"What ridiculous joke is this?"
She tried pushing past him.
Two uniformed security officers stepped onto the porch.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, ma'am."
Karen looked toward Brent.
"Say something."
Brent pulled out his phone and called me immediately.
"You sold my house?"
"No."
I answered calmly.
"I sold mine."
His voice exploded.
"You had no right!"
I almost smiled.
"No right?"
"I bought that house six years before I met you."
"You changed the locks."
"You abandoned your wife and newborn."
"You told me to stay somewhere else."
"So I did."
He went silent.
For the first time since our wedding...
Brent realized something terrifying.
May you like
Every assumption he'd built his life on...
Had been wrong.
