“It wasn’t stolen!” Brent yelled. “It was marital property! We are married!”

“You forged her signature on a lease guarantee, Brent,” Jennifer said. “That is a Class 5 felony in the state of Colorado.”

Brent took a step back, his shoulders shaking.

He looked past Jennifer and saw me standing in the hallway, holding Ivy.

“Tessa, please,” Brent said, his tone shifting from anger to a desperate whine. “They are throwing my sister’s furniture onto the sidewalk.”

“Karen treats my home like her own personal hotel,” I said, my voice shaking but clear. “She can find her own place to live.”

“She has no money, Tessa!” Brent pleaded. “You know how she is! She can’t afford that place on her own!”

“Then she should have rented something she could afford,” I said.

“And my mother?” Brent asked, his eyes wide. “She has a heart condition! You want her on the street?”

“Diane has plenty of friends,” Molly chimed in from behind me. “Let them pay forty thousand dollars to save her.”

Brent glared at Molly, his teeth clenched.