“This is Naomi.”
“Mom.” Brandon’s voice crackled with barely contained fury. “What have you done?”
I smiled, though he couldn’t see it.
“I’ve only just begun.”
“Mom, be reasonable,” Brandon’s voice hardened through the phone. “You can’t just freeze accounts and file injunctions. Do you have any idea what you’re doing to our deal?”
“Your deal,” I corrected. “Not mine. Not your father’s.”
“Where are you?” Melissa cut in, her voice shrill. Brandon had clearly put me on speaker. “We’ve been worried sick.”
The lie hung between us like a poisoned cloud. They hadn’t called the police. Hadn’t contacted friends. They’d been too busy finalizing their betrayal.
“Worried that I survived?” I asked, my voice perfectly level. “Worried that I didn’t conveniently disappear?”
“That’s not fair,” Melissa whined. “Brandon made a mistake—”
“Shut up, Melissa,” Brandon snapped.
