For Fourteen Years My Son Lived Rent-Free in a House He Believed Was His

I stared at the blue ink on the page.

“Rent,” I said quietly.

“It’s a fair market rate for a separate living structure in Oakridge,” Brandon said.

“I built this whole estate fourteen years ago, Brandon.”

“You built it, but we’re the ones who maintain it,” Brandon said, his voice tightening.

“Last summer I spent thirty thousand dollars of my own money on the roof and fixing the back deck.”

I knew the Mitchell Family Holdings corporate ledger had covered every invoice for that roof job, right down to the last copper nail.