Chapter 5
The Cabin I backed away slowly.
Mark noticed.
His smile returned.
Small.
Mean. “Don’t be dramatic, Sophie.”
“Move.” “We need to talk.”
“No. We don’t.”
I reached for my phone on the counter. He grabbed it first. Fast. Too fast.
“Mark.”
“Sit down.”
The room tilted.
The man in front of me was not drifting anymore.
He was focused. Awake. Almost excited.
“You’re going to call the lawyer today,” he said.
“What lawyer?” “The real estate attorney.”
My blood went cold. He pulled a folded paper from his pocket and placed it on the counter.
A contract.
Already printed.
Already marked.
I saw the words Fox Lake property. I saw my grandmother’s address. I saw my name. And beside it, a blank line for my signature.
“You planned this.”
“I planned our future.”
“You planted a camera on me.”
“I protected us.”
“From what?”
“From your selfishness.”
The room went silent.
Then he said the sentence that ended my marriage completely.
“If you won’t sell it willingly, we’ll prove you’re unstable.”
I stared at him. He nodded toward the glass.
“You’ve been paranoid. Talking about old women on buses.
Hiding jewelry in drawers. Making accusations.”
His voice softened. Cruel softness. “The lawyer said a pattern matters.”
I felt the floor vanish beneath me.
Every strange comment. Every argument.
Every time he asked if I was sleeping.
Every time he told friends I had been “acting off.” He had been building a story.
A version of me. A wife too unstable to manage her own property.
And the necklace was part of it. Not to kill me.
To trap me.
To watch me.
May you like
To record me.
To make me look insane.
