Chapter 3 - The Door She Thought Was Hers
Vanessa laughed.
It sounded forced.
“May have ended? That’s your big threat?”
Benjamin didn’t react.
“Let Grace inside.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll document your refusal.”
“Document whatever you want.”
She turned toward the house.
Benjamin raised his phone and took a picture.
Vanessa spun around.
“Did you just photograph me?”
“I photographed the locked door and Grace’s property outside. You happened to be standing there.”
“I want you off my property.”
“Again,” Benjamin said, “that’s the issue.”
I looked between them.
“Can somebody tell me what’s actually happening?”
Vanessa pointed at me. “Nothing is happening. This man is digging up old paperwork because your mother hated me.”
Benjamin’s face changed.
“Rebecca did not hate you.”
Vanessa’s mouth twisted. “You barely knew her.”
“I represented her for two years.”
That silenced everyone.
Even me.
“My mom had a lawyer?”
“She did after Thomas died.”
“Why?”
Benjamin looked at Vanessa.
“Because she believed the administration of your father’s estate was being manipulated.”
Vanessa opened the door and stepped inside.
“Good night.”
Benjamin put his hand against the edge before she could close it.
He did not push.
He simply kept the door from latching.
“Vanessa, I’m asking once more. Let Grace retrieve necessities and occupy the bedroom she has used continuously for the past three years.”
“She hasn’t used it continuously.”
“I have school records, billing statements, and mail.”
“She stayed here sometimes.”
“Then we can let a judge decide whether ‘sometimes’ includes 212 nights last year.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
I stared at Benjamin.
“You counted?”
“Your mother did.”
That almost broke me.
Even while she was sick, Mom had been keeping records.
Fighting a battle I had not known existed.
Kyle appeared in the hallway again.
“Mom, what is going on?”
“Nothing.”
Benjamin looked at him. “Kyle, did you help remove Grace’s belongings?”
Kyle’s eyes shifted.
“No.”
“Kyle,” Vanessa warned.
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I carried one box.”
“Thank you,” Benjamin said.
Vanessa glared at him.
“Go upstairs.”
Kyle hesitated, then left.
Benjamin turned to me.
“You have somewhere safe for tonight?”
“I can stay with my friend Tessa.”
“Good. We are not going to force our way into the house. We do this cleanly.”
Vanessa smirked. “So she’s leaving.”
“For tonight,” Benjamin said. “Not because you told her to.”
He handed me his card.
“Tomorrow morning, nine o’clock. My office.”
I looked at the house again.
My father’s porch.
My old bedroom.
The window where he used to leave the hall light on when I came home late.
“Can I at least get the picture of my dad from my room?”
Vanessa answered immediately.
“No.”
My throat tightened.
Benjamin’s voice turned cold.
“That was a mistake.”
Vanessa shrugged. “Add it to your list.”
I picked up the wooden box with Mom’s ring.
As I turned away, Kyle called my name.
He was standing at the upstairs window again.
This time he held something against the glass.
A blue folder.
He mouthed two words.
I FOUND THIS.
Vanessa followed my eyes.
Kyle dropped out of sight.
She ran inside.
A second later, we heard her scream his name.
Then came a crash.
May you like
Benjamin looked at me.
“Whatever is in that folder,” he said, “she does not want us to see it.”
