Quietly.
Fully.
Sabine was not.
She was texting.
Lenora must have heard the tapping through the phone.
“Sabine,” she said, “who are you contacting?”
Sabine looked up.
“None of your business.”
A minute later, headlights swept across the front windows.
Then another pair.
Then a third.
Sabine smiled again, but this one shook around the edges.
“I called my mother,” she said.
“And my brother.
We need witnesses too.”
Darien stood.
“Sabine, why would you do that?”
“Because your family is trying to put a pregnant woman on the street at night.
Let them explain that to everyone.”
The doorbell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a fist pounded the front door.
I looked at Darien.
“Did you give them a key?”
His face answered before his mouth did.
Sabine’s mother entered without waiting, wrapped in a camel coat, perfume arriving before she did.
Her son followed, broad-shouldered and red-faced, already angry because someone had told him he should be.
“What is going on?” her mother demanded.
“Sabine says this woman is threatening her.”
This woman.
In my house.
I held the cracked wedding photo against my chest and walked down the stairs slowly.
Behind me, Darien said, “Mrs.
Vale, stop.”
But Sabine’s mother was already in my foyer, looking around like an appraiser.
“Coralie, is it?” she said.
“You need to calm down.
Stress can harm a baby.”
Lenora’s voice came through my phone before I could answer.
“And unlawful entry can harm your position.
Who unlocked the door for you?”
The woman blinked.
“Who is that?”
“The homeowner’s attorney.”
That was not exactly how Lenora usually introduced herself to family, but tonight she wore the title like armor.
Sabine’s brother scoffed.
“Attorney or not, you can’t just kick people out.
They live here.”
“They were guests,” Lenora said.
“Guests who moved the owner’s private property, altered a bedroom without consent, damaged personal items, and drafted a competency petition tied to property control.
Do you want your name added to the list of witnesses or participants?”
The brother’s face changed.
Bullies hate paperwork more than courage.
Sabine’s mother looked at Sabine.
