Chapter 4 - ROBERT TOOK HIS NAME BACK
Robert wanted to confront Nathan immediately.
Malcolm stopped him.
“First we make your authority clear.”
The old power of attorney had been revoked properly.
But because Nathan had apparently continued showing copies, Robert executed a fresh written confirmation of revocation with independent counsel.
Not me.
Not Diane.
Not another Mercer.
A lawyer.
Notice went to the buyer.
The closing attorney.
Nathan.
Any relevant financial institutions.
Robert also enrolled in Wake County's property-notification system and asked Malcolm to monitor filings involving Mercer Ridge.
For once, family certainty was replaced with procedure.
Nathan called me forty minutes after receiving notice.
“What did you do?”
“I had lunch.”
“Don't play games.”
“You're calling the wrong person.”
“You put Dad up to this.”
“Your father hired his own attorney.”
“Because you scared him.”
My anger rose.
“What exactly did I tell him that wasn't true?”
“That I'm stealing his land.”
“Did you sign an option agreement using a revoked power of attorney?”
Silence.
Then:
“Dad agreed in principle.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“Elena, stay out of this.”
“You used his name.”
“It's family land.”
“No.”
I heard myself say it.
“It is Robert's land.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You've been around lawyers too long.”
“And you've been around your mother too long.”
He hung up.
That night he came home after midnight.
I was awake.
He stood in the bedroom doorway.
“You went behind my back.”
“So did you.”
“This is my father.”
“Correct.”
“Then stop treating him like a client.”
“I didn't.”
“You think he understands all this?”
I stood.
Robert forgot passwords.
He repeated stories.
He occasionally called me twice about the same insurance bill.
None of that meant he lacked capacity to decide whether to sell twenty-two acres.
“Be very careful with what you're implying.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I'm saying Dad is getting older.”
“You're thirty-seven and still think older means available.”
His expression changed.
For a second I saw the man from the reunion before the reunion happened.
Not physical yet.
But something had moved.
He stepped closer.
“You have no idea what my company is dealing with.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Won't.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
That word angered him more than anything else.
No.
I had begun noticing that.
Nathan could handle disagreement if he believed negotiation continued.
Final refusal made him feel attacked.
He slept in the guest room.
The next morning, his company controller, Mark Hensley, called Robert's attorney.
Mark had learned that the Mercer Ridge option might be unauthorized.
He was worried because Mercer Residential Ventures' books carried the three hundred thousand dollars as:
LAND ASSEMBLY OPTION ADVANCE.
Not loan proceeds.
Not money being held for Robert.
Business cash.
“How much remains?” Malcolm asked.
Mark needed authorization to discuss company finances formally.
Nathan refused.
That refusal created another consequence.
The buyer sent written notice demanding confirmation of Nathan's authority or return of the option payment.
Ten business days.
Robert asked, “Can he return it?”
Nobody answered.
Then Diane called me.
“You've humiliated Nathan.”
“He used Robert's revoked power of attorney.”
“Robert intended that land for his children.”
“Eventually inheriting something isn't the same as owning it now.”
“You always have an answer.”
I heard anger.
Underneath it, fear.
“Diane, where is the three hundred thousand?”
She became quiet.
That was the first moment I suspected she knew more than Nathan had admitted.
Before hanging up, she said:
“If Nathan's company fails because of this, Robert will never forgive you.”
May you like
Not Nathan.
Me.
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