Chapter Twenty Two

"Move out!!",

The last two words Barbara said didn't quite settle with Paula that well.

Not like she didn't want to do it, a part of her knew she had to move out. It was just the fact that she couldn't deal with the fact that she had been stupid enough to trust Collin.

Barbara let Paula have some minutes, time she needed to let the new information settle.

She finally spoke up, "He was using me all along! He never loved me!".

Barbara sighed, glad that her friend finally understood the situation, yet it was already too late, far too late.

Barbara simply nodded, Paula opened her mouth to speak again.

"Wait…!", She exclaimed, her eyes widening, she continued, "how am I going to tell Trisha!!?", She exclaimed, forgetting the fact that Elle and Trisha were also in the house.

"Tell Trisha what?!", Trisha suddenly asked, walking down the stairs, Elle following closely behind, her eyebrows raised in a curious manner.

Startled by the sudden interruption, Paula's face suddenly turned pale, like she had seen a ghost!

"Aunt Barbara!!", The girls screamed, wrapping Barbara in a hug. She accepted the hug, glad that the girls acknowledged her, yet she just couldn't bring herself to smile because of the severity of the situation.

"What's going on?!", Elle asked, wondering why the atmosphere was so grim like someone just died.

Trisha suddenly picked up the files in front of her mother, "mom what's this?!", She asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Uhm, it's nothing!", Paula said trying to snatch the file from Trisha, her face and that of Barbara's stricken with panic.

Trisha, however was a bit faster, as she dodged her mother's action, "it's clearly something!", She said, reading their facial expression.

"You know what Paula, let's just tell them, they're adults anyway!", Barbara suggested, fully aware that the girls won't drop it until they knew.

Seeing Paula nodding her head, Elle had a hunch that it was bad news.

"Mom, what exactly is going on?", Elle asked.

Paula took a deep breath before she started, "Dave and I are getting a divorce as you girls know. But, very recently, when Dave's lawyer sent the divorce papers, they'd sent a reminder!"

Paula paused to take a deep breath, "Dave gad tricked me to sign all the property under my name to his name! Everything I've worked for with your dad, he took it all away!", Paula said, bursting into tears.

"What!!, what!!, how can that be possible?!", Trisha questioned, glancing bewtween Barbara and Elle.

"Honey, it's possible, as long as your mom signed it!, Legally it's all his, except from properties under your name!", Barbara said.

At that moment, Trisha felt horrible, sad, angry, literally, she was feeling a lot of things!

"Where's Dave now, or his daughter, Adriana, can't we sue them, or try to reverse it!?!!", Trisha asked, her upper body moving between the other three females in the living room.

Elle was furious, she felt stupid. For one, she had seen Collin and Adriana with her own eyes, yet she hadn't taken one step to investigate.

Facing Barbara, Like Trisha, Elle asked, "can't we take it back!?".

" I said it earlier kids, she already signed it. The worst part is there's a clause that says she cannot go to court to fight for it. Of course, she was tricked so she couldnt read the clause!", Barbara said, she paused for a few minutes before she continued.

"Collin and Adriana on the other hand are bound to leave any moment soon!, But I don't know where they are, it's like they went off the grid!", Barbara said.

"So we need to move?!", Trisha asked this time, her voice low.

"Yes, according to Dave's lawyers, the new owners are moving in two weeks!", Barbara said.

"What, that fast!?", Elle shrieked, enraged by the deception the duo had to go through.

"Yes honey that fast, he…", Barbara was suddenly cut off by the notification sound from her phone.

"Oh shoot, I need to go to another meeting!", She said, looking at Paula for permission to leave, "it's okay! Go on!", Paula urged as she and Elle stood up to walk her out.

"Take care!", Barbara said to Trisha whose mind was miles away.

Barbara sighed when Trisha didn't say anything. Although, Trisha was aware that Barbara tapped her on the shoulder, she was in no mood to respond to anyone.

Elle and Paula saw Barbara off, waving even as Barbara's car drove towards the gate.

Suddenly, all the tears Paula was trying to hold in burst out, wrapping Paula in a hug, Elle heard Paula's muffled voice, "what are we going to do now?!"

It took some time for Elle to come up with an answer, "I'm going to call some of my colleagues and see what they have to say, especially the senior ocfficers!".