I walked out of the dining room and stood near him.

“What am I going to do, Ava?” he asked without looking up.

“The creditors are going to come for everything,” he said.

“I know,” I said.

“They are going to take the house,” he said. “The cars. Everything.”

“They will take what is yours to pay your debts,” I said. “But they won’t touch grandmother’s estate.”

“How could you do this to us?” he asked, his voice cracking with anger.

“I didn’t do this to you, Brandon,” I said. “You and Dad did this to yourselves.”

“I just wanted to go to school,” I said. “I just wanted what was mine.”

He did not reply.

He just kept his face buried in his hands.

Arthur joined me in the hallway, holding the true will safely in his briefcase.

“We should leave, Ava,” Arthur said. “The police will secure the property soon.”

“I have a hotel room booked for you near the university,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said.

I went upstairs to my room.

I packed one suitcase with my clothes, my laptop, and my grandmother’s old photograph.