Then, she turned away from me and walked toward Trevor’s car.

I stood alone in the driveway as the twilight faded into a deep, mountain blue.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out, the bright screen illuminating the darkness of the driveway.

It was an email notification from my attorney, with an attachment marked *Urgent*.

I tapped the file, my fingers cold against the glass screen.

The document was a copy of a newly filed motion for the Monday hearing.

My breath caught as I read the first paragraph.

The motion was an emergency petition for an expedited easement, filed by Trevor’s corporate attorney.

They were trying to bypass the standard land-use notice period by claiming my refusal of access was causing immediate and irreparable financial harm to their development.

But my attorney, Sarah, had attached a second document to the email.

It was a copy of the official site plan Trevor had submitted to the Buncombe County Planning Board under a shell company called Ridgeview Holdings LLC.

I zoomed in on the PDF on my phone screen, my thumb guiding the map across the glowing display.