The Daughter was quiet.
Then:
“What happens if she loses?”
“I don’t know.”
“You think she will?”
The Single Dad looked at the house.
“I think she already lost the version of the company she thought she had.”
The Daughter’s eyes filled.
He continued:
“That doesn’t mean she lost everything.”
“What does she do?”
“Go back to where the problem started.”
The Daughter looked toward the new posts.
Then at him.
“Like the fence.”
“Exactly.”
She nodded.
Then went inside.
Two minutes later the voices returned.
Quieter.
More honest.
The Single Dad kept working.
At nine forty, a black Mercedes arrived.
The man who stepped out wore money differently from the CEO.
She wore it like armor.
He wore it like evidence.
The Ex-Husband looked toward the fence.
Then the Single Dad.
Then the house.
“Contractor?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s the CEO?”
“Inside.”
The Ex-Husband walked past.
No greeting.
No thanks.
The Single Dad watched him.
The man measured everything.
Fence length.
Property line.
House.
Not repair.
Ownership.
At noon, the CEO came outside.
Her face told the story before she did.
“That was my ex-husband.”
“I guessed.”
“He heard about the board.”
“How?”
“He knows someone.”
“Of course.”
“He wants primary custody temporarily.”
The Single Dad stopped working.
“Because you might lose your company?”
“He calls it professional instability.”
Her mouth tightened around the phrase.
“He also wants to buy my share of the house.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
The Single Dad stared.
“He thinks you’re falling.”
“Yes.”
“And he wants to buy the pieces.”
Her eyes met his.
“Exactly.”
The Single Dad wiped his hands on a rag.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’d think about it.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She looked almost offended.
“You don’t know the offer.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“That’s very certain.”
The Single Dad was quiet.
Then:
“My wife’s family wanted to buy her grandmother’s house after she died.”
The CEO’s expression shifted.
He rarely mentioned his late wife.
“They said the market was good.”
“Made financial sense.”
“Had ten reasons.”
“All reasonable.”
The CEO waited.
“I still live there.”