Patricia approached slowly. “What did I tell you about sitting here?” she snapped – mynraa

“Sit up straight.”

A chair scraped.

“If your dad marries me, this house is going to have rules. And the maid isn’t going to save you.”

Then another.

“Tell your sister to stop staring at me. Do it now.”

And another.

“If you make me repeat myself, your father hears about Mara, not me.”

Cal looked away and rubbed a hand across his mouth. For a second I saw it on him too, the guilt of a man who’d been close enough to notice something was off and still hadn’t pushed harder.

Vanessa heard that recording and finally understood this wasn’t going to turn for her.

She lunged for the phone.

Cal moved before I did. He stepped between us and caught her forearm midair.

“Don’t,” he said.

She yanked back and glared at him. “Get your hands off me.”