Her face tightened.
“Well, the work is already done.”
“You authorized it.”
“For your house.”
“Without me.”
“You benefit from it.”
I looked around at the white furniture, the bare walls, the spotless surfaces that had replaced decades of family history.
“No,” I said.
“I don’t.”
Mara spoke again.
“Brianna, don’t agree to reimburse anything tonight.”
Vanessa snapped, “Of course you would say that.”
“And Vanessa,” Mara continued, “do not remove, sell, discard, transfer, or alter anything else belonging to Brianna.”
Vanessa laughed again, but weakly.
“What are you going to do, send security?”
I looked toward the guest room where Derek’s laptop, clothes, and papers had turned my spare room into their temporary office.
“No,” I said.
“You’re going to pack.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“You’re throwing us out?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Our condo isn’t ready.”
“That isn’t my problem.”
The words landed because they were hers.
Derek looked away.
Vanessa’s cheeks flushed.
“You are unbelievable.”
I didn’t raise my voice.
“You used my spare key without permission.
You moved into my home.
You went through my drawers.
You packed my research notes.
You removed things Grandma left here.
You hired a designer and contractors.
Then you handed me a bill.
You can stay angry about my reaction from somewhere else.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Derek walked into the guest room and began closing his laptop.
“Derek!”
He didn’t stop.
“We’re not doing this here,” he said.
Vanessa followed him, whispering furiously.
I stayed in the kitchen with Mara on speaker.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“First, we document the condition of the house exactly as you found it,” Mara said.
“Second, we locate the removed property.
Third, we notify your sister in writing that you dispute the invoice and did not authorize the work.
After that, we deal with whatever cannot be recovered.”
I looked at the inventory.
“What if some of it is gone?”
“Then we document that too.”
There was no dramatic promise in her voice.
No revenge speech.
Just process.
