Vanessa held out her hand.

“Give me the tablet, Emma.”

Emma pressed it to her chest.

“It’s Sophie’s.”

“I bought it.”

Principal Reeves stepped between them.

“It stays here until the district examines it.”

“You have no authority to confiscate private property.”

“You brought it into an investigation involving two children.”

Vanessa looked at Sophie.

“Tell them you made up that story.”

Sophie backed toward me.

“I didn’t.”

“Think carefully.

Your father is already away more than he’s home.

Do you want to lose me too?”

Sophie’s face crumpled.

I put my arm around her shoulders.

“You do not threaten a child into protecting you.”

Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.

“Take your hands off my daughter.”

“Then stop frightening her.”

Principal Reeves opened the door.

“Vanessa, you need to leave.

Sophie may remain with the school counselor until we contact her father.”

“My husband is in Chicago.”

“I have his number on file.”

Vanessa pointed at me.

“This is your fault.

Two days ago, our girls were friends.”

“They still are,” Emma said.

“You’re the one hurting Sophie.”

Vanessa stared at her.

“You should have kept your muddy shoes off my property.”

Emma flinched as if the words had pushed her.

Mrs.

Delaney moved beside her.

She had barely spoken kindly to any child in the three years I had known her.

“Emma,” she said, “wet shoes dry.

Cruel words stay longer.

Don’t carry hers for her.”

She took a clean handkerchief from her pocket and placed it in Emma’s palm.

Emma wiped her cheeks.

“Thank you.”

Vanessa walked to the doorway.

“You’ll all regret making this bigger than it is.”

My phone buzzed before she reached the hall.

A message from an unknown number appeared.

*Delete the video and tell the school this was a misunderstanding.

I’ll withdraw the complaint against Emma.*

I held up the screen.

“Did you just send me this?”

Vanessa glanced at it.

“Anyone could have sent that.”

Another message appeared.

*Otherwise, Sophie will say Emma planned the flooding.*

Principal Reeves read it over my shoulder.

“Vanessa, don’t leave.”

Vanessa hurried into the corridor.

A tall man in a wrinkled travel coat stepped through the main doors and blocked her path.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

Sophie ran from the office.

“Dad!”

Mark dropped his suitcase and caught her.

She buried her face against his coat.

“What happened?” he asked.

Vanessa crossed her arms.

“These people are turning Sophie against me.”

Sophie looked up.

“Mom made fake messages from Emma.”

Mark’s hand went still on her back.

“Is that true?”

“No.”

“She blocked the drain too,” Sophie said.

“Mr.

Harris recorded it.”

Mark stared at Vanessa.

“You told me the city drain failed.”

“It did.”

“You told the insurance company our neighbor caused the damage.”

Vanessa’s eyes shifted toward me.

“Because she did.”

Mark pulled a folded paper from his coat pocket.

“The claim has my electronic signature on it.”

“You authorized me to handle the insurance.”

“I authorized repairs.

I never authorized this statement.”

He unfolded the paper on Principal Reeves’s desk.

The claim accused me by name and demanded payment for the SUV, personal belongings, and emotional distress.

I looked at the filing time.

“Six fourteen in the morning,” I said.

“You filed this before you knocked on my door.”

Vanessa snatched at the paper, but Mark pulled it back.

“You hadn’t even spoken to her yet,” he said.

Vanessa’s face hardened.

“We can discuss this at home.”

“No.

Tell everyone what you told the insurance company happened at six fourteen.”

Sophie lifted her head from his coat.

Mark turned the final page toward us.

“And then tell them why you claimed Sophie witnessed it.”