Vance’s jaw tightened.
“We need to talk.”
I set my keys on the table and turned toward them.
“I handled the paperwork,” I said.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t say that like it’s nothing,” he snapped. “This developer is threatening to sue us for fraud. Deployment pay. Use it.”
I held his gaze.
“Use it for what?”
“To settle this?” he snapped. “Pay off the developer. Make this go away.”
“You signed the contract,” I said. “Not me.”
His face flushed.
“This affects all of us,” he shot back. “You’re part of this family.”
Again.
“You want me to pay for your fraud?” I said. “And then sign over the house.”
Evelyn didn’t flinch.
“Everything has to be about you.”
$45,000 gone.
A forged deed.
And somehow I was selfish.
Vance finally spoke.
“You’re making this worse than it needs to be,” he said, low and controlled. “This can still be handled quietly.”
I looked at him.
“Really?” I asked. “You mean before your command finds out?”
His silence was enough.
Richard stepped closer.
“You’re going to fix this,” he said. “That’s not a request.”
“And if I don’t?”
Evelyn stood slowly.
No soft tone.
No smile.
“Then you are no longer our daughter.”
svgDaughter-in-lawgifts
Their final leverage.
The threat they thought still worked.
I looked at each of them and memorized the certainty on their faces.
Then Richard noticed my phone.
“What is that?”
I raised it.
“20 minutes,” I said. “Everything you just said.”
Evelyn’s face changed.
“You’ve been recording us,” Chloe snapped.
“Yes.”
Vance’s jaw tightened.
“Delete it,” he said.
I ignored him and stepped forward.
“You have exactly seven days to vacate my property.”
No one moved.
“After that,” I continued. “You’re trespassing.”
Richard blinked.
“This is my house,” he said.
“No,” I said. “It’s not.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Harper.”
I cut her off.
“You forged documents,” I said. “You stole money. You tried to sell something you don’t own.”
Each fact stood alone.
“I’m done negotiating.”
That was when the shift happened.
Chloe looked toward Richard, then Evelyn, waiting for one of them to fix it.
They couldn’t.
I turned toward the door.
“Seven days,” I repeated.
Then I left.
No shouting followed me.
Only silence.
I drove to a hotel.
Check-in took less than five minutes.
Credit card.
ID.
