Chapter 5 - The Desperate Phone Call
On Wednesday evening, Arthur was sitting in his living room, helping Finn with a math worksheet.
His private cell phone rang, displaying a number he hadn't seen in over five years.
It was Margaret.
Arthur calmly told Finn to go play in the media room with his siblings before answering the call.
"Arthur, please, you have to help us," Margaret sobbed loudly into the receiver, entirely abandoning her usual arrogant tone.
"The bank is trying to seize the house, and Richard is having severe chest pains from the stress."
Arthur leaned back against the leather sofa, his expression entirely unmoved by her theatrical tears.
"Why are you calling the offspring of trash for help, Margaret?" Arthur asked smoothly.
There was a long, suffocating silence on the other end of the line.
"We were just angry, Arthur, we didn't mean any of those things," she pleaded desperately.
"You are our only son, you cannot just sit back and watch your family lose absolutely everything."
"You made your choice a long time ago when you refused to attend my wife's funeral," Arthur reminded her coldly.
"You made your choice again last weekend when you put an apron on my crying ten-year-old daughter."
"I am not your savior, Margaret; I am the man who holds the deed to your house."
Margaret gasped loudly, clearly not comprehending his words.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her fake tears instantly vanishing.
"I bought your mortgage from the bank three months ago," Arthur revealed with chilling calm.
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"You have exactly thirty days to pack your bags and vacate my property."
He hung up the phone before she could utter another word, finally feeling a profound sense of closure.
