My stomach turned.
“Did you do this?”
Evan stared at me.
“No.”
Vanessa said, “He did.”
“She’s lying.”
“Then why did she file for a protective order?”
“Because she wanted revenge.”
“For what?”
He did not answer.
That silence again.
It was becoming unbearable.
I turned to Vanessa.
“Why was it dismissed?”
Her face changed.
“Because I didn’t show up to the final hearing.”
“Why not?”
She looked at Evan.
He stared back at her.
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because three days before the hearing, someone broke into my apartment.”
My skin prickled.
“Nothing was stolen,” she continued. “But the folder with all my evidence was sitting on my kitchen table.”
Evan shook his head.
“This is insane.”
“There was a red ribbon tied around it.”
I looked at him.
That meant nothing to me.
But it obviously meant something to Vanessa.
She reached under the neckline of her dress and pulled out a thin red ribbon tied around a chain.
