Page 1 of Sold on Them

Chapter One

Mackenzie

“I’m so sorry, Mackenzie,” my boss, Tyra, says. “I wish it didn’t have to come down to this, but the company isn’t doing as well as they thought they would. They’re laying off people across the board. No department is safe. Unfortunately, they’ve chosen to go with seniority over job performance. I hate that we’re losing you. You’ve been such an asset to the team, but this is above my pay grade.”

I sigh, running my hand over my face before glancing back at the computer screen. “And there’s nothing I can do?”

“Unfortunately not. You’ll receive two weeks of severance pay based upon your length of service, and I’m happy to write you a letter of recommendation.” There are tears in Tyra’s eyes, and Ican see just how much she doesn’t want to let me go. Sadly, that doesn’t help me in the least.

“I understand. I would appreciate the recommendation letter. When will the severance be paid?”

Tyra tries to smile, her eyes blinking as she tries to fight the tears. “On your next paycheck, so next week. I really am sorry, Mackenzie.”

“I know you are, and I appreciate it.”

We cover a few more things before she ends the call.

“Fuck!” The tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over.

What the hell am I going to do?

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Picking up the letter from my desk, I take a deep breath as I read it once more.

April 7, 2024

Dear Ms. Stewart,

I’m writing to you today to let you know that the probate of your parents’ estate has concluded. I know we discussed this on our phone call, but I wanted to provide you with the information in writing as well. While we did the best we could to get WELLWORTH BANK to work with us, they were unwilling to do so.

The contents of your parents’ bank accounts will be applied to the outstanding mortgages, leaving a balance of$198,252to be paid byMay 31st, 2024. This amount covers both the first and second mortgages for the property located at4275 ROLLING HILL LANE. The life insurance payout and the sales of both vehicles,2022 AUDI Q5and2023 MERCEDES-BENZ GLS, coveredthe rest of their debts. The mortgages withWELLWORTHare the only outstanding debt remaining.

A representative withWELLWORTHadvised that you can come in to see if you qualify to take over the mortgages, but based on your lack of credit, I do not believe this will be a viable option. If the amount owed is not paid toWELLWORTHby the end of day onMay 31st, they will begin the foreclosure process.

If you have any questions that we have not already covered, or if you need anything at all, please let me know.

Yours respectfully,

Cassandra Lawrence

Cassandra Lawrence

Attorney at Law

As if losing my parents and two younger sisters isn’t hard enough, now I’m having to deal with this shit.

Six months ago, my family went on vacation to California and were killed in a rockslide. The officer who called me told me theydied on impact, more than likely feeling nothing. I like to think they didn’t.

While I expected my parents to have some debt, I’d never wanted to know anything about their finances. After all, it was none of my business.

Until it was.

Both of my parents were engineers and had well-paying jobs, but apparently not well-paying enough as they’d taken out a second mortgage to pay for my master’s degree in data analytics. I appreciate the fact that I never had to worry about how I was going to pay for my degree; I wish they would’ve just let me take out loans.

Because I have no idea how the hell I’m supposed to come up with two hundred thousand dollars by the end of next month. Especially not since I lost my job as a data analyst. I’m sure I’ll be able to find another job, but it won’t help me with paying off this debt.

I have no idea what I’m going to do.

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