Chapter 7 - Returning to the Ridge
The autumn wind whipped through the towering oak trees of the Hocking Hills as Brooke pulled her rental car up the familiar gravel drive of the family estate. The sprawling timber-and-stone lodge stood majestically against the ridge, overlooking miles of vibrant fall foliage. It was the house where she had learned to ride a bicycle, where she had scraped her knees, and where her father had spent his final, lonely evenings after her mother passed away.
Just two days ago, she had stood on this very lawn while Derek stood on the porch with his arms crossed, smugly announcing that she had no home left here.
Now, the legal title to the entire property rested securely in her portfolio, fully transferred under her name by noon that very day.
As she stepped out of the car, the front door of the lodge clicked open. Derek and Eleanor emerged, carrying cardboard packing boxes filled with their personal belongings. Eviction notices for the corporate living quarters attached to the estate had been served by Mr. Harrison's office barely two hours after the will reading, and Derek had no legal right to remain on the premises a moment longer.
Derek’s face was bruised with exhaustion and humiliation. His expensive designer suit was wrinkled, and his hair was unkempt. As he loaded a box into the trunk of his luxury sedan, he caught sight of Brooke walking up the stone pathway.
"Are you happy now?" Derek snarled, slamming his trunk shut with a deafening thud. "You drove us out! You humiliated me in front of the entire corporate board!"
Brooke stopped a few feet away, keeping her hands tucked calmly into the pockets of her jacket. "I didn't drive you out, Derek. Your own greed did. You spent years treating our father like a bank account and me like an intruder. You made your choices long before Dad ever signed that will."
Eleanor stormed over, pointing a manicured, trembling finger at Brooke's face. "You ungrateful little brat! After everything we did for your father while you were flying around the country playing dress-up in an airplane cockpit!"
"You did nothing for him except remind him of what a corporate machine looks like," Brooke replied coldly, her gaze dropping to Eleanor's trembling hand before locking back onto her eyes. "You're both welcome to take whatever personal property belongs to you from the guest quarters. But by sunset, I want every box off this property."
Derek let out a bitter, psychotic laugh, climbing into the driver's seat of his car. "Enjoy your empty house, Brooke! You'll rot in these woods just like the old man did!"
With a squeal of tires and a cloud of grey gravel dust, Derek and Eleanor sped down the driveway, fleeing the estate that had once symbolized their arrogance.
May you like
Brooke stood in absolute silence as the roar of their car engine faded into the distance, leaving behind only the rustle of autumn leaves and the distant call of a red-tailed hawk soaring high above the canopy. She walked up the stone steps, unlocked the heavy oak front door, and stepped inside her true home for the first time in years.
***
