Chapter 5 - Uninvited Guests
Before Graham could utter another pathetic excuse, the front door flew open a second time.
Tessa stood on the threshold, still draped in her ruined Vera Wang wedding gown. The bottom hem was smeared with street dirt, her mascara ran in black streaks down her flushed cheeks, and she was clutching an empty champagne bottle by the neck.
"Where is she?!" Tessa screamed, spotting me and charging across the foyer. "You ruined my life! Grant blocked my number! His mother texted me that I was a cheap grifter from a family of trash! You did this, Claire! You couldn't just let me have my day!"
She swung the champagne bottle toward my head with wild, unhinged momentum.
Before the glass could even come close, Frank moved with terrifying speed. He intercepted Tessa’s forearm, twisted the bottle out of her grip, and pinned her against the wall with textbook efficiency. The bottle fell onto the thick rug with a soft, harmless thud.
"Get your hands off me, you ape!" Tessa wailed, kicking her heels against the baseboards. "Mom! Graham! Help me!"
Judith rushed forward, shrieking like a harpy. "Let go of my daughter! This is assault! We’re calling the police!"
"Go ahead," Miller, the second security guard, said calmly as he stepped forward, pulling his badge and identification from his coat. "Retired Lieutenant Miller, Oakridge Police Department. We’re currently documenting an active home invasion, trespassing, and attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The squad cars are already two minutes out."
Judith froze, her arm suspended in mid-air.
"Trespassing?" Graham stammered, looking around wildly. "I live here! This is my marital residence!"
"Not anymore," I said, producing a freshly signed document from the side table. "This is an emergency temporary ex-parte protective order signed by Judge Harrison forty-five minutes ago, granting Owen and me exclusive possession of the property based on the physical battery of a minor earlier today and threats of domestic abduction. You have ten minutes to gather your personal clothes under officer supervision, Graham. Judith and Tessa, however, have zero legal right to be on this property. You have sixty seconds to exit through the gates before you are escorted out in handcuffs."
"You can't do this to us!" Tessa sobbed, sliding down the wall as Frank released her. "I was supposed to be Mrs. Grant Van Der Bilt! I was supposed to spend my honeymoon in Monaco!"
"You should have thought about Monaco before you handed my son a plate of cake and told him to take the blame for your greed," I said mercilessly.
Judith’s facade of high-society elegance cracked entirely. Her face contorted into something ugly and primal. "You think you’ve won, Claire? You think a few pieces of paper make you untouchable? Graham is Owen’s legal father! He signed the adoption papers! We will take that boy, we will drag you through every tabloid in the country, and by the time we’re done, you’ll have nothing left!"
Outside, the shrill wail of police sirens began to echo through the quiet neighborhood, climbing the winding hill toward our driveway.
The flashing blue and red lights painted the foyer walls in rhythmic, violent streaks.
"Time's up," Miller said, opening the heavy front doors wide to the cold night air.
Judith grabbed Tessa by the arm, hauling her crying daughter to her feet. As she passed me, she leaned in, her breath smelling of stale white wine and bitter venom.
"This isn't over," Judith whispered. "You haven't met Vanessa yet. She holds the real cards."
I watched them being escorted down the stone steps by the arriving officers. Graham was standing on the lawn, arguing frantically with two patrolmen, dressed in his crumpled tuxedo like a disgraced clown.
I didn't smile. I didn't celebrate.
May you like
Judith was right about one thing: the battle had only just begun. And the next target on my map was the luxury farmhouse at 412 Whispering Pines.
***
