My Daughter Begged Me Not to Get Off the Bus—Minutes Later, My Boyfriend Sent a Photo of My Deed Beside a Contract I Had Never Signed

Where did I keep the papers?

I had answered some of them because they seemed connected to the future we were supposedly planning.

He had also asked why Lily’s records listed Margaret’s address.

I told him paperwork could be slow to catch up with real life.

Now I wondered why he had needed that answer more than once.

“Did he see you awake?” I asked.

“I shut my eyes.”

“Did anything else happen that you want to tell me?”