He also asked whether I’d invest part of the proceeds into expanding the family business. Carter-Bennett had become Carter Heritage Interiors after Harold gradually stepped back.

Daniel wanted to build a manufacturing facility in Indiana and launch a premium home collection. “It’ll protect Dad’s legacy,” he said. That sentence found the weakest part of my heart.

I sold the house for a little over eight hundred thousand dollars. After taxes and closing costs, I invested four hundred thousand into the company, under what Daniel called a preferred family investment.

Another portion paid for renovations to their home, including the downstairs suite supposedly meant for me. The rest stayed in my retirement accounts.

On moving day, I carried Thomas’s photograph, my sewing machine, two suitcases, and three boxes into Daniel’s garage. The private suite wasn’t finished.

“The contractor’s delayed,” Vanessa explained. “Use the guest room for now.” Two months later her mother came for the holidays, and I was moved into the small room beside the laundry area.