“As of tonight, all distributions to Eleanor Hayes and Audrey Hayes are frozen.”
Audrey lunged for the papers.
Detective Harris caught her wrist before she touched them.
Her wineglass slipped from her other hand and shattered across the floor.
My mother looked at me with pure hatred.
“You planned this.”
Not legal.
Not financial.
Human.
For months, they had used the word house like a weapon.
Now it was back where it belonged.
In Sophia’s hands.
The next morning, I went home with Detective Harris, Naomi, and a locksmith.
The house looked different in daylight.
Smaller.
Meaner.
Like secrets had been hiding in corners and the sun had finally caught them.
There was a black smear on the kitchen counter where the baby bottle warmer had overheated. Formula crusted inside three bottles in the sink. Sophia’s prenatal vitamins had been dumped in the trash. One of Leo’s blankets was shoved behind the laundry basket.
