His voice lowered.
“Give me my phone.”
She backed away.
The housekeeper stepped between them.
“Don’t make this worse.”
The daughter-in-law snapped.
“Stay out of my marriage.”
The housekeeper said, “This stopped being about your marriage when you put something in that tea.”
The daughter-in-law looked toward the rear entrance.
Then ran.
Not toward the front door.
Toward the service hall.
The husband followed.
She reached the mudroom.
Opened the side door.
Her brother was already outside.
He had apparently moved from the SUV toward the house after seeing movement through the windows.
He wore jeans, an expensive jacket bought on borrowed money, and the confident expression of a man who believed plans failed only because other people became weak.
“What happened?”
he demanded.
His sister looked panicked.
“They know.”
His face changed instantly.
“How?”
“The phone.”
“What phone?”
“Mine.”
He grabbed her shoulders.
“What did you record?”
She pulled away.
“Everything.”
He stared at her.
“You idiot.”
The husband reached the doorway.
“Take your hands off her.”
The brother looked toward him.
For one second, neither man moved.
Then the brother smiled.
“Family meeting?”
The husband’s voice was flat.
“You need to leave.”
“Happy to.”
He looked at his sister.
“Come on.”
The husband stepped between them.
“She stays.”
The daughter-in-law stared.
Her brother laughed.
“She’s my sister.”
“She’s my wife.”
“Not for long, apparently.”
The husband’s jaw tightened.
“Leave.”
The brother looked past him into the house.
He saw the matriarch.
The housekeeper.
The family members.
Then the teacup still untouched on the island.
He understood.
His smile disappeared.
“This can still be fixed.”
The matriarch’s voice reached him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
The old woman walked toward the mudroom.
Cane tapping the floor.
“You entered my private documents.”
The brother held up both hands.
“I never entered anything.”
“You instructed her.”
“You have no proof.”
The husband lifted his wife’s phone.
His face changed.
“You have a recording?”
Nobody answered.
The brother looked at his sister.
She began crying again.
He swore.
Then everything moved quickly.
He grabbed for the phone.
The husband pulled it back.
The brother shoved him.
The husband hit the wall.
The housekeeper shouted.
The daughter-in-law screamed.
The brother reached again.
The husband drove his shoulder forward and pushed him away.
No punches.
Not yet.
The brother stumbled against the doorframe.
He recovered and kicked the husband’s shin.
The husband dropped slightly.
The brother lunged for the phone.
The housekeeper grabbed a heavy wooden serving tray from the side table and slammed it against the door between them.
“Enough!”
The noise stopped everyone.
The brother stared at her.
She stared back.
“Take one more step into this house and I’m calling police.”
He laughed.
“You?”