“I am completely serious.”

Landen stepped forward and slapped his hand against the countertop. “Do not speak to her like that in this house.”

I looked at him for a long, silent moment, refusing to back down. Then the doorbell rang, echoing through the foyer.

Laurel stopped packing. Howard froze halfway down the hall with his box. Landen’s confident expression changed first, his eyes narrowing. “Are you expecting someone this early?”

I picked up my phone from the counter and unlocked the screen. “Several people, actually.”

Part II — The Counter-Attack

My attorney, Emilia Croft, came in first. Emilia was fifty-three, silver-haired, careful with every word, and almost impossible to intimidate. Behind her came two private financial investigators, a county deputy, and a court clerk’s representative carrying a sealed blue folder.