They Took Me Into A Back Office So They Could Take Over What Was Mine. My Son And His Wife Laughed, “You’re On Your Own. Everything Is Ours.” But When The Supervisor Closed The Door, He Noticed The Ring On My Hand. He Leaned In And Whispered “TONIGHT YOU’LL KNOW…”

I didn’t need to. Frank understood. He took the note out of his pocket again and read it a third time, as if he needed to make sure the words were still the same.

“A house,” he murmured. “You can really give me a house.”

“Robert can,” I corrected him. “And he will.

He is a man of his word. If you tell him I asked for this, if you explain the situation, he will reward you. He has properties all over the state.

Houses he maintains for investment. He can give you one. He can give you more than that.

He can change your life.”

Frank closed his eyes. I saw a single tear roll down his weathered cheek. When he opened them again, he had made a decision.

“I have a daughter,” he said softly. “Livia, she’s 26 with two young kids. My son-in-law abandoned them last year, left without a trace.

She lives with me and my wife in a two-bedroom apartment we can barely afford. The kids sleep in the living room. My wife is sick.

She needs expensive medication that our insurance doesn’t fully cover. I work double shifts just to keep our heads above water.”

His voice broke. “If you’re telling me the truth, if there’s even a chance that this is real, I’ll make that call because my family needs a miracle as much as you do.”

I held his gaze.

“Call him.”

Frank took his cell phone out of his desk drawer. It was an old model with a scratched screen and a case worn from use. His hands trembled as he dialed the number I had written on the note.

I saw him hesitate for a second, his finger suspended over the call button, as if in that last moment the reality of what he was doing hit him with full force. But then he pressed the button. The sound of the phone dialing filled the small room.

One, two, three rings. I held my breath. It had been 3 days since I last spoke to Robert.

Three days that felt like an eternity. He had called the night before the trial, but I was so distraught, so consumed by fear that I could barely hold a coherent conversation. I told him everything was fine, that I was just tired, that I loved him, and we would talk soon.

I lied. And now I was paying the price for that lie. The fourth ring, the fifth.

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