“The farm is going to be auctioned off due to foreclosure,” my brother Marcus announced, placing a court order on the kitchen table with the satisfaction of someone who had waited for this moment for years. “You should have paid back Dad’s loan when you had the chance.” My mother, arms folded, stood behind him and whispered to my aunt, “She’s finally going to learn to be responsible.”
“Maybe losing everything will teach her what we failed to teach her.” They had driven three hours from the city to tell me the news in person. To see me break down, to finally prove that the girl who had rejected their business plans was doomed to fail. What they all didn’t know, what no one outside my inner circle understood, was that the struggling farm they were about to seize was actually the exclusive supplier to all the Michelin-starred restaurants in the region, with contracts worth more than my brother’s law firm earns in a single year.
It’s been ten years. The loan they claimed I owed was $35,000. My farm’s annual revenue was $2.3 million, but my family didn’t know that. They never asked me. « You have 30 days to vacate the premises, » Marcus continued, his tone condescending, like a lawyer. « The county assessor will be here Friday to appraise the property for the auction. »
What’s left after the debt is settled is put into escrow, and given the state of things, I suspect it won’t be much. He gestured dismissively toward the view from my kitchen window: rows of meticulously tended greenhouses, fields of heirloom vegetables, the climate-controlled facilities where I grew ingredients that chefs paid exorbitant prices for. – Marcus.
It looked like dirt and plastic. « I never agreed to such a loan, » I said quietly. « Dad’s estate documents say otherwise. He lent you $35,000 for start-up costs six years ago. The interest kept piling up. You now owe the estate $47,000, and since Mom is the CEO, she authorized me to collect it. » I looked at my mother.
Mom, Dad gave me this money as a gift. He said he wanted to invest in my dream. There was no loan agreement. « Your father was too lenient with you, » Mom replied without looking at me. « He encouraged your foolishness. I’m correcting that mistake. By stealing my farm from you, by teaching you to take responsibility for your actions. » She finally looked at me. Her expression, a mixture of contempt and disappointment I’d always known, inspired me.
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