Chapter 3

It hit me like a bolt of lightning.

That watermelon farm was my grandparents' life's work, built up through a lifetime of hard labor.

The moment Rachael got home, I marched straight up to her.

"You seized my grandparents' watermelon farm?"

She took her time peeling off her wool coat, then settled back against the sofa before she finally spoke.

"That's what fairness looks like. My parents give us two hundred thousand dollars a year. By that same logic, your family should be chipping in something too.

"Once we flatten the farm, we can build a playground there. The baby can play on it once she's born."

Her tone was so light, so breezy, as if flattening the place was nothing worth thinking twice about.

My voice shook. "That farm is the work of their entire lives."

Rachael shot back, "And my parents' money just fell out of the sky, did it?

"A marriage needs equality. Raising a child needs the same. As the baby's great-grandparents, shouldn't they be willing to show a little goodwill too?"

My fists clenched tighter and tighter. I forced the words out anyway.

"You have no right to touch what's theirs."

Rachael didn't answer. Instead, she dialed a number and handed me the phone. A lawyer's voice came through the other end, brisk and businesslike.

"Ms. Decker holds the property deed to that land, and she has every right to change how it's used. All the paperwork is in order. There's nothing to dispute."

Rachael hung up and met my stunned eyes.

"They signed that deed over to me themselves. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"

Then it came back to me, hazy at first. Before I'd married into the Decker family, my grandparents, worried I'd be looked down on, had signed over the only thing of real value they owned, the deed to that land, into her name.

At the time, Rachael had been moved to tears. Now she was flattening the farm to build a playground on it without a second thought.

Thinking of my grandparents out there working that land, year after year, my chest caved in a little more with every second.

"Then I'll buy the farm back."

I pulled the bank card out of my pocket, the one holding every cent I'd saved my whole life for my grandparents' retirement.

I checked the balance. It was empty.

No one but me and Rachael knew the password.

I looked up at her, stunned. "How is this possible?"

Her voice was flat. "I deducted what you owed directly. Otherwise, Sean's books wouldn't balance."

That was when I noticed Sean sitting in the study in my slippers and pajamas, working through some papers.

I gripped the useless card in my hand, but the weight pressing on my chest felt like a mountain.

Just then, my grandparents shuffled in, hunched over, and grabbed my hand with tears in their eyes.

"Dennis, don't put yourself through this for our sake. Come on. Come home with Grandpa."

I nodded, my throat tight.

Rachael suddenly stepped in front of me, her brow furrowed deep.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I looked up at her, my voice steady. "I've decided. I'm getting a divorce, and I'm going home with them."

I pulled out the printed divorce agreement and handed it to her.

"Once you've signed it, I'll come by and pick it up," I said, my tone calm.

The moment she took the agreement, Rachael said nothing. Her face turned unnaturally dark.

I took my grandparents by the hand. "Let's go."

We hadn't gone two steps before three tall bodyguards in black blocked the doorway.

Behind us, Rachael's voice rang out, cold and merciless.

"You want a divorce? Then have your grandfather take off the clothes he's wearing and give them back to me.

"Or did I not buy that outfit myself?"