Chapter 1 - The Uninvited Guests
Tyler’s smirk vanished the second he fully registered the dining room.
Sitting at my antique oak table—the one I had polished the night before while icing my bruised cheek—were three people he never expected to see.
First was Officer Martinez, a seasoned local cop who had responded to noise complaints at our address before, always leaving with a sympathetic, albeit frustrated, look in my direction. Today, he wasn’t here for a noise complaint. He was in full uniform, a thick manila folder resting under his folded hands.
To his right sat a woman Tyler had never met: Evelyn Cross, a no-nonsense attorney I had retained at 3:00 AM through an emergency legal service. She looked like a woman who drank black coffee and destroyed toxic men for a living.
And finally, sitting at the head of the table, looking older, grayer, and profoundly uncomfortable, was David. Tyler’s father. My ex-husband. I had called him in the dead of night and told him that if he didn't get on the first flight from Seattle to Phoenix, his son was going to end up in a body bag or a prison cell.
"What is this?" Tyler demanded, his voice dropping an octave, the familiar venom creeping back in. "An intervention? Are you kidding me?"
"Sit down, Tyler," David said. His voice shook slightly. He hadn’t seen his son in three years, and the towering, furious man standing in the doorway was a far cry from the teenager he had left behind.
"I’m not sitting anywhere," Tyler spat, turning his glare on me. "You think you can just bring the cops into my house? After everything I do for you?"
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"It’s not your house, Mr. Miller," Evelyn Cross said smoothly, not even blinking at his volume. She slid a stack of papers across the lace runner. "It is your mother’s house. And as of 6:00 AM this morning, a judge has granted a temporary restraining order. You have exactly fifteen minutes to pack a single bag of personal belongings, after which Officer Martinez will escort you off the premises."
Tyler froze. The color drained from his face, replaced rapidly by a violent, mottled red.
