Chapter 8 - THE VIDEO THAT LIED
On Monday morning, a thirty-second video of my birthday appeared on a neighborhood social-media page. It began with me pressing the broken photograph toward Jessica's cheek. It ended with her falling against the lounge chair. Her deliberate shove of the frame had been cut out.
The caption read: ELDERLY MOTHER-IN-LAW ATTACKS BRIDE AT BIRTHDAY PARTY.
There I was in my wine-red dress, looking furious and unreasonable. Hundreds of strangers decided who I was before breakfast.
Lois handed me her full recording. “We post it right now.”
“No,” I said after a moment. “We give it to Priya and the officer first. Then we decide.”
She stared. “When did you become patient?”
“When I realized rage had already given Jessica one useful photograph.”
Priya filed a request for emergency court protection and delivered our evidence to the title company. A representative confirmed that the pending sale had been placed on hold pending review of the lien dispute. She could not guarantee how long the process would take.
“That's a start,” Priya said. “Keep breathing.”
At noon Jessica came to my front porch with a small bandage beneath her eye and a woman carrying a leather portfolio. Her attorney introduced herself as Margaret Keene.
“We'd prefer a private resolution,” the attorney said.
“Then have your client stop recording me,” I answered. Jessica had her phone pointed at my face.
Keene offered a paper. In return for signing a lien release and waiving any claim to the house proceeds, Jessica would refrain from seeking a protective order and would remove the video.
“You want me to surrender almost three hundred thousand dollars to buy back my reputation?”
Jessica folded her arms. “Think of Michael.”
“I do. Every day.”
I closed the door. Through the peephole I heard Keene say, “You did not tell me there was a recorded lien.”
Jessica's reply was sharp enough to hear through the wood.
“Then find a lawyer who doesn't need every detail.”
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