Chapter 2
The knock came at two o'clock the next afternoon.
I was in the kitchen helping Poppy with her homework when I heard it. Sharp. Insistent.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and walked to the front door.
Margaret stood on my porch, dressed in her usual expensive coat, her gray hair pulled back so tight it stretched her face.
And beside her was a woman I had never met but would have recognized anywhere.
Young. Pale. Very pregnant.
Her hands rested protectively on her stomach as she looked past me into the house, her eyes wide and nervous.
"Audrey," Margaret said, her voice cold as ice. "We need to talk."
I stood in the doorway, blocking their path.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here."
"Don't be dramatic," Margaret said, pushing past me before I could stop her. The pregnant woman hesitated for a moment, then followed, closing the door softly behind her.
Margaret walked into my living room like she owned the place, looking around with a critical eye.
"You've changed the furniture," she said. "Grant hated that color blue."
"You sold me your share of this house, Margaret. It's mine now. I can paint it any color I want."
She ignored me, turning to the young woman who stood awkwardly by the door.
"This is Lena. She's carrying Grant's son."
I felt my blood run cold.
I knew she existed. Of course I did. Grant's phone, his emails, the credit card statements I found after the accident. I knew about the apartment he rented for her, the money he sent every month.
But seeing her here. In my house. Standing where my husband used to stand.
It was like being punched in the stomach.
Lena looked down at her shoes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't apologize," Margaret snapped. "You have nothing to be sorry for. That baby is a Bennett. He belongs here just as much as anyone."
Her eyes flicked to the hallway where Poppy stood, watching us silently.
"Maybe more," Margaret added quietly.
I stepped between them, my voice rising.
"Get out. Both of you. Get out of my house right now."
"We're not leaving until we get what we came for," Margaret said, sitting down on my couch like she planned to stay all day.
May you like
"And what is that?"
"Grant's office," she said. "We need to look through his things."
