The police removed Warren and Sabine that afternoon for trespassing. Sabine genuinely believed Warren had bought the house as a surprise, and when she discovered the truth, she left him within the month. I didn’t celebrate. Being deceived by the same man is something she and I now have in common. My attorney begged me to press charges against Delphine too. I couldn’t do it. I have stopped trying to justify that decision. She is my sister, and sometimes love and forgiveness are not the same thing. I drove the four hours home in silence and have not spoken to her since. That silence has become its own sentence, longer than anything a court might have given her.

I changed the keypad code and replaced every lock. I told no one the new combination—not a single person. For the first time, I understood what safety actually costs. The house was still mine. I lived there alone, and I slowly realized that “alone” could mean two completely different things. One meant being abandoned. The other meant finally being safe. I had trusted only a handful of people with my new beginning, believing those people were the ones I could depend on. In the end, the betrayal came from the shortest name on the list: my sister.