Chapter 5

Dad’s house looked smaller than I remembered.

Not because it had changed.

Because I had spent years inside rooms designed to make people feel powerless.

The Bennett house didn’t do that.

It sat at the end of a quiet road with white siding, blue shutters, and a porch that sagged slightly on the left side.

Mom’s rose bushes still grew along the fence.

Wild.

Stubborn.

Alive.

Dad pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine.

“You ready?”

I looked at the front door.

My throat tightened.

“No.”

He nodded.

“Then we’ll be not ready together.”

That made me laugh, and the laugh turned into tears.

He came around and helped me out.

Mia carried my small hospital bag.

The protective car parked across the street.

Two agents inside.

I should have felt embarrassed.

Instead, I felt grateful.

Inside, nothing smelled like the Vance house.

No expensive candles.

No polished coldness.

Just lemon cleaner, old wood, and coffee.

Dad had made up my old room.

Fresh sheets.

A rocking chair in the corner.

A stack of baby blankets folded on the dresser.

My mother’s quilt spread across the bed.

I touched it and broke down.

Dad stood in the doorway.

“I kept everything.”

“I thought you hated me.”

His face twisted.

“I hated that you were hurting. Never you.”

I sat on the bed slowly.

“I missed Mom.”

“Me too.”

“I missed you too.”

He crossed the room and sat beside me.

“I’m here now.”

That first night, I slept for four hours without dreaming.

Then a sound woke me.

Not loud.

A creak.

I opened my eyes.

The room was dark.

My heart began to pound.

Another creak.

I reached for my phone.

Before I could unlock it, someone knocked softly on the bedroom door.

“Claire?”

Dad.

I breathed out.

“Yes?”

He opened the door.

“There’s someone outside the gate.”

Fear shot through me.

“Who?”

“Not sure. The agents are handling it.”

Mia came from the guest room with her hair wild and a baseball bat in her hand.

Dad looked at it.

“Where did you get that?”

“Closet.”

“That was signed by Ryne Sandberg.”

“I’ll apologize to baseball later.”

Despite everything, I almost smiled.

Then blue lights flashed through the curtains.

We went downstairs together.

Dad made me sit in the kitchen while he checked with the agents.

Minutes later, he returned with a face like stone.

“It was a courier.”

“At this hour?”

He placed a small envelope on the table.

“No return address.”

Agent Harris arrived twenty minutes later.

She opened it with gloves.

Inside was a single photo.

Me at the baby shower.

On the floor.

Arms around my belly.

Written across the photo in black marker were four words.

You started a war.

Mia swore.

Dad’s hands curled into fists.

Agent Harris bagged the photo.

“This confirms intimidation.”

I felt strangely calm.

Maybe because the threat was meant to scare me.

Maybe because I had already been scared for so long that I had reached the bottom of it.

“Julian?” I asked.

“Possibly,” Harris said. “Or someone connected to Arthur.”

Dad looked at her.

“How do we stop this?”

“We keep documenting. We keep pressure on. And Claire stays protected.”

I looked at the photo before Harris sealed it.

For years, the Vances had taken pictures of me at events.

Smiling beside Julian.

Holding charity plaques.

Standing behind Elise like an accessory.

This was the first photo that showed the truth.

Me on the floor.

Them above me.

I touched my belly.

“Let them send more.”

Mia stared at me.

“Claire.”

“I’m not hiding what they did.”

Agent Harris watched me carefully.

“What are you saying?”

I lifted my chin.

“I want to make a statement.”

Dad frowned.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”

“The press will be ugly.”

“They already are.”

I picked up my phone and opened the news.

Arthur Vance Arrested in Federal Raid.

Pregnant Daughter-in-Law Cooperating Witness.

Vance Family Baby Shower Ends in Scandal.

There were photos of Arthur in cuffs.

Julian being led out.

Elise covering her face.

And me blurred in the background, sitting in a wheelchair.

Commenters were already choosing sides.

Gold digger.

Hero.

Liar.

Brave.

I put the phone down.

“They humiliated me in public,” I said. “I’ll answer in public.”

Agent Harris nodded slowly.

“We can coordinate with your attorney.”

“My attorney?”

Dad cleared his throat.

“I called one.”

I stared at him.

“Dad.”

“She’s good. Ruth Bell. She handled your mother’s estate. She also eats men like Julian for breakfast.”

Mia said, “I like her already.”

Ruth arrived the next morning.

She was sixty, short, elegant, and terrifying.

She listened without interrupting.

Then she placed her pen down.

“First, we file for divorce.”

I nodded.

“Second, emergency protective order.”

“Yes.”