Chapter 23 - THE HOUSE DEED AGAIN
Years after the scandal, Gideon suggested selling Sutton House.
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Too big.”
True.
“Too many memories?”
“Some.”
“Your mom?”
“Some.”
I walked through rooms.
Dining room.
Nursery.
Office.
Back terrace.
House had become ours after all.
Vivienne’s campaign had failed.
Did keeping it prove victory?
No.
Did selling surrender?
No.
Property is not a moral trophy.
We listed.
Independent realtor.
Market appraisal.
Vivienne learned from Gideon directly.
Her response:
“It’s your house.”
Four words.
Years earlier impossible.
We sold.
Good price.
No family discount.
No symbolic buyer.
A couple with three children.
We moved to a smaller modern house near my studio and Elias’s school.
Jointly purchased.
Both names.
No one objected.
The proceeds from Sutton House were divided according to our ownership and marital planning.
No secret trust.
No dispute.
Then Gideon gave Vivienne one thing.
Arthur’s old desk from the study.
It had been his father’s.
I agreed.
Not because she had claim.
Because it meant something.
She cried.
“Thank you, Maris.”
Not Gideon.
Me.
I said:
“You’re welcome.”
No speech.
Then old photograph.
Baby Gideon in Sutton House.
We gave original to her.
Kept scan.
History can be shared without ownership.
Then the round dining table from our renovation?
We took it.
Elias complained.
“It’s ugly.”
We kept anyway.
Some furniture can be therapy if it’s practical.
Then final civil archive.
Elena called:
“You can authorize destruction of several duplicate litigation copies.”
Yes.
Raw recordings?
Original evidence retained per legal requirements where necessary; our duplicate personal copies could be deleted.
I chose deletion.
No need to preserve myself under the table forever.
One copy of Vivienne’s apology letter stayed.
My choice.
Then the old fake postnup.
Shredded after counsel confirmed safe.
Paper strips.
No ceremony.
May you like
Good.
The thing designed to control my future became recycling.
