My stepmother called me at the end of the day, her voice so smug I could practically hear the smile on her lips, and told me that from now on I would never be allowed to set foot in the family beach house again because she had already changed every lock.

Cassandra’s jaw hardened as she looked at me. “Mom has done everything for this family, and you know it,” she said.

The words hit me with a strange force because they were so old and familiar. Cassandra had been repeating some version of them since she was sixteen when Victoria first started using the phrase “after all I’ve done.”

It was always framed as generosity or sacrifice, but the subtext was always about possession. The older officer handed the papers back to Lydia and looked at Victoria.

“Based on this, Ms. Sinclair has a legal right to be here, and we are not going to remove her from the premises,” he said. Victoria stepped down one porch stair with her face pale from controlled rage.

“Harrison will fix this as soon as I call him,” she promised. Lydia’s expression did not change as she looked at her watch.

“Perhaps he will try, but he will need to do so through legal counsel who can explain the difference between marital assumptions and recorded ownership,” Lydia said. She reached into her folder again and produced a final document.