Chapter 2: She Was Already at the Door
The call came three days after I canceled the transfers.
"You think you can just cut us off?" Penelope's voice was sharp, almost unrecognizable.
"After everything I've done for you?
After I raised you?"
"You terrorized a five-year-old," I said.
"We're done."
She hung up.
I thought that was the end of it.
I was wrong.
Two days later, my neighbor Sandra texted me while I was at work.
*Your mom is here.
She's been knocking for twenty minutes.
Bella is inside alone.*
My heart stopped.
Bella wasn't supposed to be home.
School had let out early.
I called the house phone.
Bella picked up on the first ring, her voice small and tight.
"Mommy, Grandma is outside.
She keeps saying you told her to come.
She says if I don't open the door, you'll be very angry at me."
I told her to stay inside, lock every door, and not open anything for anyone.
Then I called Sandra and asked her to stand on her porch until I got home.
When I pulled into the driveway forty minutes later, Penelope was still there, sitting calmly in her car like she had every right to be.
She rolled down her window and smiled.
"I just came to see my granddaughter."
"You used my daughter to try to get back inside this house," I said.
"That was your last mistake."
She laughed softly.
"You have no idea what I've already set in motion."
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What had Penelope already done — and was Bella truly safe?
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