The Story Continues After Part 2

It showed my old house, with a For Sale sign planted in the yard.

Beneath it was a line of text:

“Before Rebecca finds out what we did with the deed, we need to get her out of Ohio.”…

Opal put the phone face down as if she were covering a plate of spoiled food.

For years I had imagined the moment when I might find something concrete enough to prove that my sister was lying.

I pictured relief.

Vindication.

Maybe even the quiet satisfaction of seeing her cornered by her own words.

Instead, my first feeling was fear.

My old house had been the one place where I had once understood my life.

I had painted the kitchen myself.

Dad had taught me to replace the porch railing.

Trevor and I had planted an apple tree the spring after we married.

Now strangers were being invited to buy it, and Monica wanted me expelled from the state before I could ask why.

“May I make a copy of that?” I asked.

“Already did,” Opal said.

“Screenshots, dates, number, the whole conversation.