Chapter 3 - The Destruction of the SignBy 2:00 PM that afternoon, my real estate agent, Melissa Vance, called my private line.
"Ian," Melissa said, her voice laced with a mixture of professional amusement and exasperation. "I'm standing down the street from the Brookfield property in my SUV."
"What happened?" I asked, leaning back in my executive chair at my primary restaurant, The Copper Oak.
"Well, your sister, Tessa, just marched onto the lawn with a silver garden spade," Melissa reported smoothly. "She spent twenty minutes hacking my wooden 'FOR SALE' sign into splintered kindling while your mother filmed her on her phone screaming about 'family rights.'"
I let out a short, quiet chuckle, tapping my desk calendar. "And the second sign?"
"The second sign is a ten-foot steel-frame industrial commercial board," Melissa grinned through the phone. "My crew is pounding it three feet into the concrete driveway with a hydraulic rig right now. If she wants to destroy this one, she'll need an angle grinder."
"Send the invoice for the broken wooden sign to my father's email," I instructed flatly. "How is the market interest?"
"It's a prime suburban market, Ian," Melissa revealed, her tone turning sharp and professional. "I listed the property at one point two million dollars. Because the Brookfield neighborhood has zero inventory, I already have four private viewing requests from pre-approved cash buyers scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock."
My brow furrowed slightly. "Private viewings? My family won't let potential buyers step through the front door."
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"That's why I hired two uniformed private security officers to accompany me during the open house walk-through tomorrow," Melissa assured me. "Under the Cook County Property Access Code, as the legal owner, you have granted full authority for pre-scheduled buyer inspections."
"I'll be there personally at three o'clock, Melissa," I declared, my winter-gray eyes flashing with an unshakeable, sovereign fire. "I want to make sure my family understands that the clock is officially ticking."
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