Chapter 4 - The Real Estate Consultation
While Natalie and Preston scrambled frantically to salvage their crumbling finances, Martha was executing a plan of her own. The following morning, she picked up her phone and dialed a number she had looked up days earlier.
A professional woman answered on the second ring. "Good morning. How can I help you?".
Martha looked around her kitchen one final time—sweeping her gaze across the pristine countertops, the sunlit windows, and the kitchen island where she had overheard the plot to steal her future. She took a slow, grounding breath.
"Hello," Martha said steadily. "I need to make some changes concerning my house".
"Of course. What kind of changes?" the agent asked politely.
Martha looked toward the framed photograph of her late husband resting safely on the shelf. She told the real estate expert precisely what she wanted to do: list the property immediately, execute a full market valuation, and prepare the estate for an expedited sale.
Within five days, a discreet For Sale sign went up on the front lawn. Because real estate in the desirable riverside suburb moved at lightning speed, word reached Natalie within hours through a neighborhood friend who spotted the listing online.
That evening, Natalie hammered frantically on Martha’s front door, looking pale and unhinged. When Martha opened it, Natalie stared past her into the living room, where packing boxes were already stacked neatly against the wall.
"Are you selling the house?!" Natalie gasped, clutching her chest as if she had been physically struck. "Where are we going to live?! We planned to move in here after the wedding while we renovated!"
Martha walked calmly to the doorway, looking at her daughter with a profound, unyielding detachment. "You planned to move in here, Natalie. I never agreed to it."
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"You can't sell my childhood home!" Natalie cried out. "What about us? What about the family?"
"The family," Martha said quietly, "died the moment you sat quietly at a restaurant table while your fiancé told me to pay the bill and leave."
