Chapter 4 - The Locked Bedroom
Jessica tried to block Ethan from entering.
“You can’t just come in after six years and start giving orders.”
Ethan held up the folder.
“I own the house.”
“Caleb inherited part of it.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Jessica’s confidence flickered.
Ethan walked inside.
The living room had been redecorated with expensive furniture. Arthur’s old recliner was gone. Helen’s family photographs had been removed from the mantel and replaced by framed pictures of Jessica, Susan, and Brooke.
The master bedroom door was locked.
“Who sleeps there?” Ethan asked.
Jessica crossed her arms.
“My mother needs the downstairs room because of her back.”
“Where do my parents sleep?”
No answer.
Helen looked toward the hallway.
Ethan followed her gaze to a narrow room beside the laundry area.
Inside were two twin beds, a portable fan, and cardboard boxes stacked against the walls. Arthur’s shirts hung from an exposed pipe. Helen’s medication sat inside a plastic grocery bag.
The room had once been the farmhouse utility office.
Ethan turned toward Jessica.
“You moved them out of their bedroom?”
“They agreed.”
Arthur finally spoke.
“She said the house belonged to Caleb’s family now.”
Jessica snapped, “Arthur, don’t.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“Did she show you paperwork?”
Arthur nodded.
“A transfer document. Said you signed it after Caleb died.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“I signed nothing.”
Susan appeared in the hallway.
“You abandoned them. Jessica kept this place running.”
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“With whose money?”
The silence answered him.
