Vanessa’s face hardened.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Daniel stood.
“She’s frightened, Vanessa.”
“Because your mother is poisoning her against me!”
“No,” he replied quietly. “Because she just watched you smash a table full of dishes and admit you forged documents.”
The kitchen fell silent.
Vanessa stared at him, apparently waiting for him to take the words back.
He didn’t.
She left the house alone.
The front door slammed hard enough to shake the framed photograph above the hallway bench.
June burst into tears.
I opened my arms, and she crossed the kitchen without hesitation.
She held me so tightly that I could feel her heart pounding through her sweater.
“I’m sorry, Grandma.”
I brushed the hair away from her forehead.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
She shook her head.
“Mom said you were going to sell the house and move away because you didn’t want us anymore. She said you were tired of me.”
I closed my eyes.
Of all the lies Vanessa had told, that one hurt the most.
“Oh, sweetheart. I could never get tired of loving you.”
June buried her face against my shoulder.
Behind us, Daniel began collecting the broken glass.
I watched my son kneel on the kitchen floor, gathering fragments of a dinner his father would once have called perfect.
And for the first time, I didn’t rush to make things easier for him.
The following morning, I called Mara.
She came to the house and spent two hours reviewing what had happened. We preserved the relevant messages and financial records, and she explained the steps required to protect my property and formally end the living arrangement.
Daniel listened without argument.
When Mara asked whether he had authorized Vanessa to submit documents containing his signature, he shook his head.
