Chapter 1 - READ THE NAME
Lauren Vance stood beside two packed suitcases near the front door when Eleanor Mercer grabbed one of them.
“Get out of my house!”
The suitcase swung hard.
It struck Lauren across the face and upper body.
She stumbled backward into the wall and dropped one hand to the floor to catch herself.
Eleanor stepped over her.
Pearls.
Heels.
Perfect posture.
As if cruelty looked more respectable when dressed well.
Ethan came from the hallway.
Lauren looked up at the man she had divorced twelve days earlier.
He took the suitcase from his mother.
For one second, Lauren thought he would stop her.
Instead he shoved it toward Lauren.
The heavy case crashed against Lauren’s shoulder and fell beside her.
“You don’t live here anymore.”
Lauren stared at him.
The words hurt more than the suitcase.
Then a battered Chevy truck pulled into the driveway.
Robert Vance got out.
Work jacket.
Plaid shirt.
Leather briefcase.
He saw Lauren on the floor.
Then the red mark on her cheek.
His expression changed.
Not loudly.
Completely.
He walked inside.
“Who told you this house was yours?”
Ethan froze.
Eleanor laughed.
“Excuse me?”
Robert placed the briefcase on the living-room table.
Opened it.
Pulled out the recorded deed.
Then set it directly in front of Eleanor.
“Read the name.”
She grabbed it.
Her smile disappeared.
Grantee:
Lauren Elise Vance.
Date recorded:
three years before Lauren married Ethan Mercer.
Ethan stepped forward.
“That doesn’t mean—”
Robert looked at him.
“It means exactly what it says.”
Lauren slowly stood.
Reached into her handbag.
Pulled out a small black remote.
Ethan’s face changed.
“What is that?”
Lauren looked at him.
“You wanted me out.”
She pressed one small side button first.
A calm electronic voice sounded from the security panel.
EXTERIOR ACCESS RESET PENDING.
Eleanor stared.
Robert opened the front door.
“Everybody outside.”
Ethan pointed at the remote.
“Lauren, what are you doing?”
She looked at him.
May you like
“Taking back possession of my house.”
And for the first time since the divorce began, Ethan understood that the story he had been telling his mother about who had won was about to collapse.
