Chapter 3 - The Locks Are Changed
Daniel lunged toward the porch door, slamming his open palms against the wooden frame. "You can't kick me out, Claire! That house is marital property! My name is on the deed!"
"Actually, it isn't," I said, holding up my phone to show him the county tax records I had pulled while sitting in urgent care the night before. "The cottage was purchased through my grandmother's trust before we signed our marriage certificate. You never contributed a dime to the mortgage, Daniel. You spent every paycheck on custom suits, leased sports cars, and, apparently, luxury resort suites in Mexico."
"I am your husband!" he roared, his eyes wild and bloodshot. "You owe me loyalty! You think you can just run away to your little friend's house and tear our lives apart over an argument? You come home right now, or I swear to God I'll drain the joint accounts and take half of everything you've ever baked!"
"The joint checking account had eighty-four dollars in it this morning," I replied calmly. "Because you've been siphoning your salary into your private account with Vanessa for six months. But my business account—the down payment for my bakery—is held under a registered LLC in my maiden name. You can't touch it. Your name isn't on the signature card, and the bank manager has already flagged your unauthorized access attempts."
Evelyn was now leaning against the porch railing, clutching her chest, looking like she was about to faint from public humiliation. Two of Anna’s neighbors had walked out onto their front lawns, pretending to water their flowerbeds while listening to every single word.
"Daniel," Evelyn wheezed, her voice shrill with mortification. "Look at the neighbors! Get me away from here! Take me home this instant!"
"Mom, shut up for one second!" Daniel screamed, turning on his own mother with the exact same venomous tone he had used on me twenty-four hours earlier. "This is your fault! If you hadn't sent Claire that stupid brochure with the reservation number, she never would have called Brenda!"
Evelyn stared at her son in absolute disbelief. The golden boy she had coddled, spoiled, and defended against every woman who ever dared cross his path had just told her to shut up in broad daylight. She stumbled backward down the porch steps, tears of humiliation finally spilling over her mascara.
"You ungrateful little monster," Evelyn whispered, her voice shaking. "I gave you everything. I backed you against your father. I backed you against Claire. And you turned me into a laughingstock."
May you like
"Both of you need to leave this property," Anna said, stepping forward beside me with her phone still recording. "I have the police department on speed dial, Daniel. You have three seconds to get in that leased BMW and pull out of my driveway, or the officers will escort you straight to the county lockup."
Daniel looked at the camera, then looked at the gauze dressing visible beneath my collar. He realized that Anna had video evidence of his threats, along with medical documentation of the scalding burn on my skin. He ground his teeth so hard I could hear the enamel click, then spun on his heel, grabbed his weeping mother by the arm, and shoved her into the passenger seat before peeling out onto the road, leaving two black tire marks across the asphalt.
