The suited man who delivered the documents was already driving away.
I opened the door wider.
A woman stood on the porch.
Early thirties.
Dark hair.
Cream coat.
No luggage.
She looked exhausted.
Her eyes moved past me and landed on Daniel.
She didn’t seem surprised to see him.
Daniel, however, looked as though the floor had vanished beneath his feet.
“Sabrina,” Vanessa whispered.
The woman’s eyes moved toward her.
“You must be Vanessa.”
Vanessa stared.
“How do you know my name?”
Sabrina gave a humorless smile.
“Because Daniel talks too much when he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
“Sabrina, leave.”
“No.”
“This isn’t your business.”
She held up her phone.
“It became my business eight months ago.”
I stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Daniel blocked the doorway.
“Helen, don’t.”
That was precisely why I did.
“Sabrina?”
“Yes?”
“Please come in.”
Daniel whispered my name through clenched teeth.
Sabrina walked past him.
She looked at the babies.
Her expression softened.
“So they were born.”
I felt cold.
“You knew about them?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She looked toward Daniel.
“He told me.”
Vanessa’s face twisted with disbelief.
“He told you?”
Sabrina nodded.
“Not at first.”
Daniel began pacing.
“This is insane.”
Sabrina ignored him.
“I met Daniel through Mason Ridge Holdings.”
The lawsuit.
I glanced at the papers in Vanessa’s hands.
“You work there?”
“I founded it.”
Daniel stopped moving.
Sabrina continued.
“Two years ago, Daniel approached me with an investment proposal. He claimed he controlled several properties, including this one.”
I stared at him.
“This house?”
“Yes.”
Daniel spoke quickly.
“She misunderstood.”
Sabrina laughed.
“No. I have emails.”
My hands went cold.
“He tried to use this house as collateral?”
“Not directly. He represented it as part of his personal asset portfolio.”
Daniel raised his voice.
“I never signed anything using Helen’s name.”
Sabrina looked at him.
“That isn’t the defense you think it is.”
He fell silent.
She turned back to me.
“About nine months ago, I started noticing inconsistencies. Addresses that didn’t match. valuations that couldn’t be verified. Ownership records under different names.”
“And you confronted him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said his wife managed the family trusts.”
Everyone looked at me.
I almost smiled.
“Of course he did.”
Sabrina nodded.
“He told me you controlled the paperwork because you were going through a mental health crisis.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
I said nothing.
Some lies were so ugly they needed no reaction.
“He said you were unstable,” Sabrina continued. “He said he couldn’t involve you directly because stress might cause medical complications during the pregnancy.”
Vanessa looked disgusted.
Daniel pointed toward Sabrina.
“You came here to humiliate me.”
“No,” Sabrina said.
“I came because you stopped answering your phone.”
“So you brought the lawsuit?”
“No.”
She looked toward the envelope.
