“My client has expressed what her desires are, so we’ll be taking a look around and an inventory as we do so.” Steele went on, completely ignoring how devastating of a bombshell that had been to drop on me. “You’re welcome to join us but I suggest that it’s best for both your sake and my client’s to let us handle this process privately.”
Jonas cleared his throat. “Mr. McAllister... I can notify you when they leave.”
None of this felt real.
I had to be in some terrible dream. I had to still be in bed, with Brandon tucked against me while we slept the morning away, completely oblivious to the world around us.
“Avery,” Brandon said again, this time using his arm to pivot me backward. “Let’s go upstairs.”
I was shaking my head, even as he was guiding me to the staircase and up the first few steps. I couldn’t let these strangersroam around my home. Not with these walls still seeped in such agony.
“Jonas...” My voice was tight.
He seemed to understand, even as my words failed me. “I’ll show them around and will let you know as soon as they leave.”
I wished those words would’ve given me some kind of relief, but all they did was harden the pit of dread that had long since settled in my stomach. I stumbled back into Brandon when we reached the top landing, my heels digging into the thick carpet the moment we were stationary.
None of that deterred my best friend from lurching me backward, forcing us both to take the corner that led down to my room.
And with that, both Steele and Ana disappeared from my view.
CHAPTER 27
Avery
“I can followup with the clinic she used, but if the director signed off on it, there’s a very low chance of fraud, Mr. McAllister. Not many people would risk their careers for a patient they have no connection to.”
My heart sank once more as I clutched my phone in my hand, Ted’s voice coming in through the speaker loud and clear.
Foolishly, I’d had hope we could make a case for proving Ana’s claims as illegitimate. Somehow backtracking through Google that she’d paid for a fake test and slapped my and her names on it to try and pass it off in order to gain access to my house.
There were plenty of documented cases of false paternities before this. Why not hope that this one was among those statistics?
While Ted was typically one to entertain my delusions, this one was clearly not one of them. Even as I begged him to dig deeper, he sounded hesitant. I’d pay him a handsome salary todo whatever was necessary, yet clearly his ethics were keeping him from making audacious claims.
“Is there any history of fraud with the clinic?” I asked.
“Again, I can look into it, but I haven’t heard anything.”
I fisted my hand in my hair and bent over to rest my elbow against my knee, balancing the phone on my other one. I was so damn tired of this—of getting screwed over at the last minute when I was finally finding myself on steadier ground.
When would it end? When would I finally be able to live my life peacefully without someone or something coming in to bulldoze it all down and force me to start over?
“I know this is disappointing,” Ted went on. “Right now all we can do is wait to see what the other party is requesting. It could be a few simple things and some money.”
“She wants the house,” I argued.
“If that’s the case, then they’re going to need to be willing to negotiate. You’re currently residing and paying the bills. That gives you more claim over the property as of right now.”
‘As of right now’ wasn’t exactly guaranteeing me forever. Not to mention everything that wasinsideof the property. My skin crawled at the thought of Ana rooting around my family’s personal property, looking for anything of value that would be worth her while in fighting me on.
What’s to say I kept this thing going for the next decade? Fighting her on every choice she made until she gave up and cut loose? Was that possible or would the courts force me to negotiate despite my wishes?
I found it ironic that, eventually, a baby would have the same amount of rights as me to claim property. Hell, it could probably be argued he had rights now if Steele found his client the right judge with an equally bleeding heart.
“I want my family’s assets left alone,” I mumbled into the phone.
“I know you do, but unfortunately, we’re past that point. I can call you when I get the reports sent over with what they’re interested in. After that happens, we’ll go from there.”
