Chapter 7

I didn't go back to our apartment. I checked into a boutique hotel near my office and dropped a pin on SnapChat for Jessica. Then I collapsed onto the bed and closed my eyes.

An hour later, the doorbell chimed.

Standing in the doorway was my best friend and attorney, Jessica.

Sharp in her tailored blazer, she took one look at my exhausted face and immediately frowned.

"Look at you," she murmured, pulling me into the room and shutting the door behind her. "I called you a dozen times. If you hadn't sent me your live location, I would've had the police tracking your car."

Seeing her was the breaking point. The armor I had worn all day shattered.

My eyes burned, and hot tears spilled over.

Jessica didn't press for details right away. She just wrapped her arms around me and held on tight.

"It's okay. Breathe. I'm right here."

"Whatever they threw at you, we're taking it down."

"Go wash your face, drink some water, and tell me everything from the top."

Her steady voice cut through the chaos in my chest.

I went into the bathroom, splashed cold water over my face, and pulled myself together.

When I sat back down on the couch, Jessica handed me a glass of warm water, waiting patiently across the coffee table.

I laid out everything that had unfolded since Father's Day.

Chloe's brazen demands, Brandon's spineless excuses, and the family ambush out on the sidewalk.

I spoke calmly, but Jessica could see the bone-deep exhaustion beneath it.

By the time I finished, she was pacing the floor, her blood boiling.

"Are you out of your mind with these people?! Who the hell behaves like that?!"

"And Brandon calls himself a man? His own family treats his wife like an open bank vault, and he just sits back and lets them eat you alive?!"

"As for that little sister of his—where does she get the audacity?!"

After venting, she walked back over, looking at me with pure sympathy.

"Serena... I'm so sorry you had to deal with this."

I managed a bitter, hollow smile.

"I just never thought people could be that calculated."

"Well, they picked the wrong person to mess with," Jessica said, her tone razor-sharp.

"No more playing nice. Hand it to me."

"I promise you, every single penny they tried to rip from your hands, they will cough back up with interest."

Her certainty gave me the anchor I needed.

"Thanks, Jess."

"Stop it. That's what I'm here for," she said, squeezing my shoulder. "Are all the records secured?"

"Everything. Banking records, remodeling invoices, contracts, SnapChat screenshots. All saved on my encrypted cloud drive."

"Perfect." Jessica's expression shifted into full lawyer mode. "In a nominee title dispute, the case lives and dies on the paper trail. Your down payment proofs and written communication establish full intent."

"First thing tomorrow, I'm serving Richard with a formal legal notice demanding full cooperation to re-title the property."

"If he refuses or stalls, we file the declaratory title action immediately."

"Good," I nodded.

"And what about Brandon?" Jessica looked at me closely. "Have you made up your mind?"

I knew exactly what she was asking.

The moment the lawsuit dropped, the marriage was over.

Truth be told, it had died the second he chose to side with his family.