The house went unnaturally quiet after my uncle's voice echoed through the hallway.
Tara's hand was still inside her bag.
The envelope lay between us like a weapon neither of us wanted to touch.
My heart hammered so loudly I was sure they could both hear it.
"Why is he here?" I asked, my voice shaking despite my effort to sound calm.
Tara swallowed. "I didn't know he was coming."
I laughed, a sharp, humorless sound. "You expect me to believe that?"
Heavy footsteps climbed the stairs.
Each step felt like a countdown.
I picked up the envelope before Tara could stop me. It felt thicker than paper should. Important. Final.
My uncle appeared at the doorway, his expression unreadable. The same face that had looked at me with disappointment for years now held something colder.
"So," he said slowly, "you found it."
My fingers tightened around the envelope. "Why is my name on this?"
He glanced at Tara.
That single glance told me everything.
"You had no right," I said, my voice rising. "Both of you."
Tara stood up quickly. "Listen, it's not what you think."
"That's funny," I snapped. "Because every time you say that, it's exactly what I think."
My uncle sighed, like I was a problem he was tired of solving. "This was necessary."
"Necessary for who?" I demanded.
"For the family," he replied. "You were never meant to handle it alone."
Anger burned through me. "So you went behind my back? You turned my best friend into your messenger?"
Tara flinched. "I didn't plan for it to happen this way."
"Then how did it happen?" I asked, stepping closer to her. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you chose them."
Her eyes filled with tears, but they didn't move me.
"I was trying to protect you," she whispered.
I shook my head. "You don't protect someone by lying to them."
My uncle cleared his throat. "Enough. What's done is done."
I looked at him, really looked at him. "You never trusted me. That's what this is."
He didn't deny it.
That hurt more than anything else.
I tore the envelope open with trembling hands.
Inside were documents.
Signatures.
Dates.
Decisions made without me.
My chest tightened as I scanned the pages. They had reassigned everything. Control. Authority. Access.
They had taken my future and wrapped it neatly in legal language.
"This is theft," I whispered.
"It's order," my uncle corrected. "Something you lack."
Something inside me snapped.
"I trusted you," I said to Tara. "I told you everything. You watched me fall apart, and you still smiled."
Tara reached for me. "Please....."
"Don't," I warned. "Just don't."
Silence swallowed the room.
Then my phone vibrated.
Once.
I looked down.
A new message.
Unknown: Now you see her. But you still don't know who sent me.
My breath caught.
I slowly lifted my head.
Both of them were watching me.
And in that moment, I realized the truth was bigger than Tara. Bigger than my uncle.
Someone else was watching.
Someone who knew everything.
And whoever they were...
They hadn't revealed themselves yet.