Chapter 7 - Welcome Home
I reached my house behind Elena’s car and a vehicle carrying two security officers.
The moving truck stood inside my gate.
Blue archive boxes filled its open rear.
One had split.
My mother’s notebooks lay beneath a packing blanket.
I climbed into the truck and pulled them free.
A driver stepped toward me.
“Ma’am, we have instructions—”
“So do I. Put everything down.”
Leo appeared in the doorway.
For one second, he looked happy.
His face arranged itself out of habit.
“Baby. You’re home.”
Then he saw Elena.
The smile vanished.
Claire stood behind him in my white blouse.
My blouse.
She had changed out of the robe.
“Mia,” she said. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
I held up my mother’s notebook.
“Then explain the truck.”
Leo came down the steps.
“We’re reorganizing.”
“Where were these going?”
“Storage.”
“Which facility?”
He glanced at the driver.
The driver looked away.
Elena asked for the work order.
Leo stepped between them.
“This is my house.”
“No,” I said. “It’s mine.”
His eyes hardened.
“You really want to do this in front of strangers?”
“You invited the movers.”
Claire folded her arms.
“We were trying to help.”
“By signing my name?”
She went still.
There it was.
No surprise.
No confusion.
Just calculation.
Leo lowered his voice.
“Let’s talk inside.”
“We can talk here.”
“Mia.”
I had heard that tone before.
At restaurants when I disagreed with him.
At parties when he thought I laughed too loudly.
In bed when I was too tired to listen.
I had spent two years mistaking it for concern.
Elena handed him the suspension notice.
He read the first paragraph.
Then tore it in half.
One security officer bent to retrieve the pieces.
“That doesn’t reverse the vote,” Elena said.
Claire’s phone began vibrating.
She looked at the screen.
Then at Leo.
“What did you do?”
He snapped, “Shut up.”
The words landed between them.
I watched Claire realize the protection she had counted on came with conditions.
“Where are the original photographs?” I asked.
Neither answered.
“The ones from my mother’s workshop.”
Leo smiled again.
This time, he didn’t bother making it warm.
“Careful, Mia.”
He moved closer.
“You have a company because people love your story.”
I held my ground.
“And you have a lawyer’s number because you’re about to need it.”
His smile disappeared.
Behind him, Claire whispered, “The safe.”
May you like
Leo spun toward her.
Too late.
