Corinne let the question hang in the humid air before answering. \u201cRead the letterhead, Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harold looked down at the paper again. This time, he read slowly. The document came from Meridian Holdings, the company that had purchased the mortgage on his house eight months earlier. But there was more. The same company had also acquired the loans connected to Preston\u2019s gym and Dixon\u2019s failing restaurant.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve been renting your own life from a stranger,\u201d Corinne said quietly. \u201cExcept the stranger isn\u2019t a stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preston looked at Dixon. Dixon looked at their mother. Harold\u2019s face slowly lost its color.<\/p>\n
\u201cI own Meridian,\u201d Corinne finally said. \u201cEvery payment you three have made since October went into my account.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Harold stared at his daughter, the same daughter he had called a disgrace only moments earlier. Corinne slid another page across the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat paper isn\u2019t a bill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Then she looked directly into her father\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the part you\u2019re really going to want to read.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE STORY CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE… \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47<\/p>\n