“My dear children,” Mr. Reed read.

“If Thomas is reading this, I've gone, and you've just heard about the house. I imagine Lauren is standing up, and Kyle is saying the word ‘court.' Sit down, both of you. I'm still your mother.”

Kyle, who had half stood up again, sat back down.

“At Christmas two years ago, Kyle gave me an iPad. It was a lovely present. Kyle set it up for me using his own account, because I'm hopeless with passwords.”

Kyle went very still.

“What Kyle didn't realize was that his messages came up on it too. All of them. Including a group chat called Donnelly HQ.”

The room was completely silent.

“I read it for two years. Every message. I know what you called your sister. I know what you said about her marriage, and her apartment, and why she drove me to church. I know about the china.”

Amber had gone white. Lauren was staring at the desk.

Mr. Reed reached into the file and took out a thick stack of paper, held together with a big black clip.

“Your mother printed them,” he said. “Forty-seven pages. She brought them to me herself, last summer.”

He put them on the desk in front of Lauren and Kyle.

On the top page, I could read the first message.

Kyle: Have you seen Claire's apartment?? It's literally the size of Mom's closet lmao.