The icy water hit my skin with a violent shock, stealing the breath from my lungs. I gasped, jolting upright in the cold dawn air of my own bedroom.

Garrett didn't pack his things. Instead, he made the catastrophic mistake of calling in reinforcements.

That evening at 7:00 PM, the doorbell rang incessantly.

Ring, ring, ring!

I walked to the door and peered through the peephole. Standing in the hallway was not just Garrett, but Lorraine, Tabitha, and Tabitha’s oldest son, all huddled together like an invading army preparing to breach a fortress.

I unlocked the door and opened it just a few inches, keeping the security chain securely fastened.

“Open this door right now, you vicious little harpy!” Lorraine shrieked, pushing her wrinkled face against the narrow opening. “How dare you throw my son out on the street?! You manipulated him, you brainwashed him, and now you’re stealing his home!”

“It’s my home, Lorraine,” I said evenly. “And Garrett was given forty-eight hours to collect his belongings. If he hasn't packed, the movers appointed by the court will pack them for him tomorrow morning.”

“You can’t do this!” Tabitha screamed, thrusting a baby carrier containing her youngest child toward the door as if using it as a battering ram. “We have nowhere to go! Our house is still flooded, and Garrett is our only family! You’re destroying a family just because you’re selfish and cold!”

“Your financial mismanagement and lack of boundaries are not my emergency,” I replied.

From behind his mother and sister, Garrett looked up, his expression a pathetic mix of humiliation and lingering defiance. “Elena, please. Just let my mom and Tabitha in to talk. We can reason this out. You don't have to be so extreme.”

“The time for reasoning ended when you stood in my bedroom with a bucket of ice water on my birthday,” I said, my voice cutting through the hallway noise like a razor blade.

I reached for the door to close it.

Lorraine suddenly lunged forward, jamming her heavy leather handbag into the gap to prevent the door from shutting. “I am an elder! You will listen to me, you disrespectful, barren—!”

The word barren hung in the air like a foul odor.

For three years, Garrett and I had struggled with unexplained fertility issues. Behind closed doors, Lorraine had repeatedly blamed me, whispering cruel insults about my body's failure to produce grandchildren for her dynastic ego, while Garrett sat silently and watched.

The moment she said it, something inside me shifted permanently. All remaining traces of patience evaporated.

“Remove your bag from my door, Lorraine,” I whispered, my voice dropping into a tone so icy and dangerous that even the older woman recoiled slightly. “Or I will press immediate charges for attempted home invasion, harassment, and assault, and I will personally ensure that every single penny of Garrett’s future wages is garnished to pay my legal fees.”

Lorraine yanked her handbag back as if the door had burned her.

“You’re a monster,” Lorraine hissed, her face purple with rage. “You’ll die alone in this empty apartment!”