Out in the Cold
Days later, Dawn came home from work to find her suitcases by the door. Charlotte stood there, arms crossed, smug.
“This is it,” she said. “You need to leave.”
Dawn’s breath caught. “Charlotte, I have nowhere else to go.”
“Not my problem,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “Figure it out.”
Tears burned Dawn’s eyes, but she held them back. “You’re really doing this?”
Charlotte smirked. “You should’ve been nicer to me growing up. Maybe then, I’d feel bad.”
With no choice, Dawn grabbed her phone and called their father’s lawyer.
“Charlotte kicked me out,” she blurted. “What do I do?”
The lawyer’s response stunned her. “Come to my office tomorrow. Your father planned for this.”
A Hidden Truth
The next morning, Dawn met with the lawyer, who slid a thick folder across the desk.
“Your father knew Charlotte would do this,” he said gently. “That’s why he prepared something just for you.”
Inside the folder were financial records, legal documents—proof of something extraordinary.
“Seven years ago, your father inherited a large sum from a relative he had cared for. Nearly two million dollars. He never told either of you because he wanted to see who would truly appreciate what mattered.”
Dawn’s breath hitched. “So… Charlotte gets half?”
The lawyer shook his head. “Only if she honors the will’s condition—she had to share the house with you.”
Dawn sat up straighter. “And if she doesn’t?”
“She forfeits everything.”
Her mind spun. Charlotte had kicked her out, unaware of the consequences.
A Poetic Justice
That evening, Dawn received a call. Charlotte’s voice was tense.
“The lawyer called me,” she said. “There’s a mortgage on the house. Dad took out loans. If I don’t pay them off, I lose everything.”
Dawn twirled the watch around her wrist. “That’s tough.”
“You have the money, don’t you?” Charlotte demanded. “You can fix this.”
Dawn smiled. “I might.”
Silence.
“You have to help me,” Charlotte finally said.
Dawn’s voice was calm. “I would have, Charlotte. If you had been kinder to me.”
Then she hung up.
Moving Forward
Weeks later, Dawn moved into a small apartment of her own—cozy, hers. As she passed by their childhood home one evening, she saw the SOLD sign in the yard.
She felt no sadness. That house had been her father’s, but home had always been where love was.
And thanks to her father’s foresight, she could now build a life on her own terms.