Chapter 2 - THE LAST REASON
The room stayed frozen.
A wineglass rolled onto its side.
Richard took one step toward me.
Genesis did not.
She calmly moved closer.
“The apartment is mine now,” she said. “You’ll pay me twelve hundred a month too.”
I slowly looked up.
Her face held no concern.
Only entitlement.
Jackson grabbed my upper arm and yanked me upright.
Then he released me.
“You own nothing in this marriage without my permission.”
Something inside me went cold.
Useful.
I reached into my hair, removed a broken porcelain fragment, and dropped it onto the ruined table.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Genesis grabbed my wrist.
I tore my arm free.
She stumbled into a chair.
Jackson stepped toward me and raised his hand.
I did not move.
“Go ahead, Jackson,” I whispered. “Give me the last reason I need.”
His hand froze inches from my face.
Genesis looked terrified.
Not because she cared.
Because she understood.
I had already copied the deed.
Already forwarded the bank alert.
Already sent the unknown number a message:
I NEED A LAWYER NOW.
Whoever had been warning me replied with one name.
DANA RUIZ.
Then one instruction.
DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT THE FOLDER.
Jackson lowered his hand.
Genesis recovered first.
“She attacked me.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She shoved me.”
“You grabbed my wrist.”
“You assaulted me.”
There it was.
Narrative reversal.
Richard finally spoke.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
“No more.”
Genesis’s face changed.
“What did you say?”
Richard looked at me.
“I said no more.”
He reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a folded document.
“I have the original deed packet.”
Genesis went pale.
Richard placed the papers on the table.
“The deed they filed is not the one Emma signed.”
My heart stopped.
“I never signed any deed.”
“I know.”
He opened the packet.
Inside was a signature page from a different document.
One I recognized.
A marital property disclosure Jackson asked me to sign six months earlier.
My signature had been lifted and attached to another instrument.
Richard continued.
“Genesis had Martin Vale prepare the transfer.”
I knew the name.
Family attorney.
Jackson’s godfather.
Genesis hissed, “You had no right to go through my office.”
Richard looked at her.
“You forged my daughter-in-law’s property transfer.”
Jackson stared at the documents.
“Mom?”
Genesis did not answer.
“Did you do this without telling me?”
She looked at him.
“You wanted control.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“You wanted her to stop acting like a single woman.”
Jackson sat down hard.
He knew the goal.
Maybe not the forgery.
That distinction would matter later.
My phone vibrated.
Dana Ruiz.
I answered.
A woman’s voice said:
“Emma Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Do not sign anything. Do not surrender your phone. Photograph every page Richard has.”
“Who contacted you?”
“Someone inside the Carter family.”
I looked at Richard.
He shook his head.
Not him.
Dana continued.
“And Emma?”
“Yes?”
“The apartment is not the biggest thing they tried to move.”
My stomach tightened.
May you like
“What else?”
“Your mother’s trust.”
