Chapter 6 - THE AUDIT REPORT
The autumn wind carried a sharp chill through the neighborhood, rustling the golden leaves that clung stubbornly to the old oak trees in my yard. Inside, however, the duplex felt warmer, quieter, and entirely at peace.
Sarah, my new upstairs tenant, had settled into her routine seamlessly. She worked long shifts at the hospital, kept to herself, and paid her rent on the exact stroke of midnight on the first of every month via direct bank transfer. No excuses. No emergency text messages. No manufactured dramas requiring immediate financial intervention.
For the first time in over a decade, my mornings began without a knot of anxiety twisting in my stomach.
Yet, loose ends in the real world rarely tie themselves up neatly without a final push.
My phone, which had remained blissfully silent regarding Logan and Chloe for weeks, chimed with an unfamiliar notification on a crisp Tuesday morning. It was an email from Marcus Holloway, my attorney.
Subject: Settlement Offer / Case Docket #4492-VS
I clicked open the PDF attachment and scanned the legal jargon. It appeared that Logan, facing the harsh reality of unemployment, mounting legal fees, and a court-ordered judgment to cover my attorney costs from the emergency conservatorship hearing, had finally attempted a desperate counter-move.
He was offering a settlement.
His lawyer had submitted a formal proposal: if I waived the court-ordered legal fees and provided a ten-thousand-dollar "relocation stipend," Logan and Chloe would agree to sign a binding waiver relinquishing any future claims to my estate.
I leaned back in my ergonomic office chair, a quiet, humorless smile touching my lips.
My son still didn't get it. Even after losing his home, his rent-free living situation, and his mother's financial backing, he still believed he could negotiate terms from a position of leverage. He still believed he could extract cash from the vault by pressing the right buttons.
I picked up my landline, dialed Marcus’s direct office extension, and waited for him to pick up.
“Marcus Holloway,” the deep, familiar voice answered crisply.
“Marcus, it’s Evelyn,” I said. “I’m looking at Logan’s settlement proposal.”
A low chuckle rumbled on the other end of the line. “I figured you would be. Quite audacious of him, considering he currently has negative net worth and a bench warrant looming for unpaid court costs if he misses next week’s deadline.”
“What do you think of his offer?” I asked calmly.
“I think it’s garbage,” Marcus replied without hesitation. “We reject it outright. We push for full execution of the judgment, attach a lien on his current wages at that warehouse job he managed to scrap together, and let him learn what real financial consequences look like.”
“No, Marcus,” I said softly.
May you like
There was a brief pause on the line. “No? You want to settle?”
“No,” I corrected him. “We don't reject it. We counter-offer.”
