They Wanted Family Drama And I Wanted A Property Deed Chapter 07
Chad Winthrop’s face froze.
A few of his friends stopped laughing.
I pulled out my phone. “By the way, I recorded everything you just said. Defamation, slander,
harassment. My family’s lawyers are bored. They’d love to play.”
Chad smirked. “Who are you trying to scare? My dad’s on the school board.”
“Funny,” I smiled. “My adoptive mom just donated a whole science building to the school. Haven’t
named it yet. Maybe I’ll call it the Chad Winthrop Legal Education Center.”
His face dropped.
Bennett leaned in and whispered, “For real?”
I glanced at him. “No.”
Bennett nearly choked.
I kept smiling. “But the lawyers are real. The recording is real. And your big mouth is definitely
real.”
Chad lost it. “You’re insane!”
I sent the recording to my lawyer, then looked up at him.
“Kids from the Tri-State Area don’t curse people out. We let the grown-ups close the tab.”
That night, Chad’s dad called Richard.
Not to raise hell. To eat crow.
When Richard hung up, the way he looked at me was complicated.
Bennett was even more dramatic. He showed up at my door the next morning with a cup of coffee.
“Lena, this is for you.”
I glanced at it. “Iced Americano?”
“Isn’t that what you like?”
“I like hot lattes. Half sweet. Oat milk.” I paused. “Your research skills are like your people skills Wrong direction, but lots of effort.”
Bennett quietly took the coffee back. “I’ll get you another one.”
Sophia was standing behind him. She said, softly, “Lena… thank you for yesterday.”
She wasn’t crying. That actually surprised me.
I nodded. “You’re welcome. Just don’t turn on the waterworks every five seconds. That’d be a good
start.”
Sophia’s cheeks went pink. “I’ll try.”
“Not try. Do.” I looked at her. “You want to stay with the Harts? Fine. But don’t treat me like your
I’m not fighting you for scraps of affection. If I actually wanted to throw my hat in the ring,
you wouldn’t even make the cut.”
enemy.
Sophia was quiet for a long time.
Finally, she asked, voice low, “Why don’t you hate me?”
I thought about it. “I do hate you.”
Her eyes went red instantly.
I added, “But hating you doesn’t mean I want to waste my life on you. You’re not the gardens at Fairhaven. I don’t need to buy a ticket and stroll through you.”
Sophia blinked her tears back, completely speechless.
Bennett was biting back a laugh. Halfway through, he saw me looking at him and straightened up
fast. “You’re right.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve been acting weird lately.”
His ears turned red again. “I just think… you’re more solid than I expected.”
“Don’t,” I said, holding up a hand. “Don’t compliment me. It won’t get me to write your apology
letter for you.”
His face froze. “How do you know about that?”
“Chad got scared by the cease-and-desist letter yesterday. He definitely blamed you guys. The
school wants a written statement, right?”
Bennett stared at me. “How are you always ten steps ahead?”
“Because I have a brain.” I patted his shoulder. “You should try growing one too.”
From that day on, Bennett started following me around, learning how to “know how to set
boundaries.”
Sophia started to drop her whole crybaby act, too.
The most ridiculous one, though, was Catherine.
She sent me her first tentative text:
[Lena, do you want to come home for dinner tonight? Mom had the kitchen make your favorite truffle pasta.]
I stared at the word “Mom.” It didn’t do much to me.
But the truffle pasta was tempting.
So I wrote back:
[Fine. If it’s bad, I’m leaving.]
Catherine replied instantly:
[Okay. Mom will have the chef make it three times.]
