Every distinction mattered.

I would not threaten eviction over a house I didn’t own or claim I could cancel obligations that were somebody else’s contracts.

Reality was enough.

That afternoon Daniel sent me a photograph of an overdue notice on his phone.

“Look what you’ve done,” he wrote.

I studied it and recognized a routine warning about a scheduled transfer not being received, not a foreclosure notice or a demand that the house be surrendered overnight.

I wondered whether he had misunderstood the notice or assumed I would.