Chapter 2: The Name I Didn't Recognize
I didn't open the door.
I sat up in bed, ribs aching, leg throbbing, and watched them on the small screen of my phone.
David's face was red.
Eleanor kept jabbing her finger at the camera like I was supposed to feel afraid.
I didn't feel afraid.
I felt clear.
That night, after their car had gone, I had called my sister.
Then I called a locksmith.
Then I called my lawyer.
By midnight, every lock in the house had been changed.
By morning, I had signed the first papers.
David finally stopped yanking the door handle and pressed his face close to the camera.
"Open the door," he said.
"We need to talk.
Right now."
"We have nothing to talk about," I said through the intercom.
"My lawyer will be in touch."
Eleanor shoved him aside.
"You ungrateful woman.
After everything this family has given you — you think you can just lock us out?
David has rights.
This is his house."
I almost laughed.
"Check the deed," I said quietly.
"It's not."
The silence on the other side lasted a long time.
Then I heard Eleanor say something to David in a low voice.
Something about a name I didn't recognize.
May you like
A woman's name.
And David went completely still.
