A moment later, a message lit up my screen.

I need your signature today. Call me NOW.

Ten years. A full decade since he sent that last message the night before my college graduation: If those girls aren’t invited, neither am I. And if you go through with this, don’t call me your father again.

He hadn’t just stayed away. He made sure my mother, my brother, and half the family stayed away too. The next morning, I crossed that stage with trembling hands and an empty row where my family should have been.

And now, after ten years of silence, he needed something.

I stared at his message, then typed four words.

Not without full disclosure.

The typing dots appeared immediately. Disappeared. Then came back.

Then my phone rang again.

This time, I picked up.

“Emily,” he said, breathless, his voice thinner than I remembered. “This is not the time for games.”

“Funny,” I replied. “That’s exactly what I was told the day before graduation.”

He exhaled sharply. “I need you to sign a transfer affidavit. Today. There’s a closing at noon.”

“A closing for what?”

Silence.