“You took a father from your daughter, a house from my family, and a business from my sister.” I looked at him, with Chloe’s small hand held tightly in mine, and I gave him the only true answer there was.

“I didn’t take anything from you, George,” I said.

“You simply stopped being able to use things that were never yours.”

Chapter 18 — Things That Were Never Yours

Weeks later, law enforcement and a court officer arrived to formally execute the eviction and the property seizure at the salon.

Fiona, incredibly, had set up a promotional event for that very day, and tried to livestream the encounter, as though an audience might somehow change the law.

When they asked George to surrender the keys, he threw them into a bush.