The door had barely stopped vibrating from Frank's exit when another knock came sharp, impatient, venomous.
Edward and Leah both stiffened.
Edward's voice dropped, low and dangerous.
"…That's not my father."
Leah didn't need to guess twice.
Only one person knocked like the world owed her something:
Vivian.
Edward stepped toward the door, but Leah placed a hand on his arm.
"No," she whispered. "I'll handle her."
He didn't like it she could see it in the tense line of his shoulders but he nodded and stayed close behind her as she opened the door.
Vivian stormed in without waiting for an invitation, heels stabbing the floor like insults. Her makeup was perfect, but her face was twisted with fury.
"You have some nerve," Vivian spat, eyes blazing. "Some sick, delusional, shameless nerve, Leah."
Leah crossed her arms calmly. "Hello to you too, Vivian."
Edward almost smirked.
Vivian turned her wrath to him instantly. "And you this is what you're doing? Sleeping with your father's ex-wife? Has the entire world gone insane or is it just the both of you?"
Edward didn't flinch.
He didn't even blink.
But Leah did something she'd never done before.
She stepped forward right into Vivian's space.
"This is between me and Edward," Leah said, voice steady. "Not you."
Vivian laughed, high-pitched and poisonous. "Oh honey, everything is between me and everyone. I don't get excluded. I don't get ignored."
Leah tilted her head. "You're doing a great job proving why Frank stayed miserable."
Vivian's eyes widened offended, scandalized, outraged, all at once.
"You.. how dare you"
"Vivian." Leah didn't raise her voice, but the force behind it made the room still. "Get to your point and get out."
Vivian pointed a perfectly manicured finger in Leah's face. "You ruined everything. You ruined my relationship. You ruined this family. You ruined"
"I ruined…?" Leah repeated slowly. "Frank cheated on me. With you. He left me for you. You married him. You got what you wanted. And then what? It still wasn't enough for you?"
Vivian's lips trembled with rage.
Edward stepped beside Leah not in front of her, not covering her but a protective presence, letting her lead, letting her fight.
Vivian noticed.
"Oh I see," she sneered. "You've replaced Frank with an upgrade. That's cute."
Edward's voice was calm, lethal. "Vivian"
"No, no, let me guess," she cut him off. "You think this is love? You think this is healthy? You think this is normal?" She gestured between them with pure disgust. "Edward… she used to be your stepmother."
Leah snapped.
"I was never a mother to him!" she shouted. "Never! Not for a single day. Frank didn't want us close. He barely let us speak. Don't come here acting like I raised him or tucked him into bed or sent him to school! Frank kept us in separate worlds."
Her chest heaved. Edward gently touched her back just a grounding reminder but he didn't speak.
Vivian scoffed. "Don't try to justify your filth."
Leah stepped closer, eyes burning. "You want to talk about filth? You slept with a married man, Vivian."
"He wasn't happy!"
"And you didn't care as long as he chose you," Leah shot back. "But now you're mad because he didn't choose you today."
Vivian froze.
Like the truth had slapped her across the face.
"Frank came here because he wanted answers," Leah continued. "Frank came here because for the first time, he can't control me. And you hate that."
Vivian glared. "Don't flatter yourself."
"Oh please," Leah snapped. "I saw your face the moment you walked in. You didn't come here for Frank. You came for your ego."
Vivian shifted, thrown off balance.
Edward finally spoke, voice calm but undeniably firm.
"Vivian. You don't get to blame Leah for anything. My father made his choices long before Leah and I ever touched each other."
Vivian laughed bitterly. "Of course you'll defend her. You're obsessed with her. It's pathetic."
Edward didn't even look offended.
He looked bored.
And that angered Vivian more.
She turned back to Leah, eyes sharp as glass. "You think you've won something? You think you're special because Edward is rebelling and Frank is confused? Let me make something clear men don't stay with women like you."
Edward's entire stance changed.
Instantly.
Dangerously.
Before he could speak, Leah placed her hand on his arm to stop him.
She faced Vivian fully.
And smiled.
Not sweetly.
Not politely.
But with the calm confidence of a woman who finally understood her own worth.
"Men left me," Leah said softly. "Yes. Frank left me for you. And I thought it meant I wasn't enough."
Vivian straightened, ready to smirk.
"But then," Leah continued, "I realized something important."
"What?" Vivian hissed.
"Frank didn't leave because I wasn't enough." Leah's voice turned razor-sharp. "He left because I was too much for a man who wanted life easy."
Edward's eyes softened with absolute pride.
Vivian blinked.
Leah kept going.
"And Edward… is nothing like his father. He doesn't leave when things are hard. He doesn't look for someone new when he's bored. He doesn't need to be flattered or worshipped. He knows love when he sees it."
Vivian's lips trembled.
"And that's something you will never understand," Leah finished.
Silence.
Thick. Heavy. Cracking.
Vivian looked at Edward one last desperate attempt to find some leverage.
"He's using you," she spat. "He wants attention. He wants to hurt Frank. He wants"
"I want her," Edward said simply.
Vivian stopped speaking.
Stopped breathing.
Edward turned to Leah, voice steady, gentle, sure.
"I want her," he repeated. "Not for revenge. Not out of confusion. Not because of anything my father did." His eyes held Leah's. "But because she is everything I never knew I needed."
Leah's breath caught.
Vivian's expression shattered.
"You two are disgusting," she whispered, shaking with anger she no longer knew how to hold. "This is wrong. This is twisted. This is… this is unbelievable."
Leah took one final step toward her.
"And yet?" she said quietly. "Here you are. In my home. Begging for relevance."
Vivian's mouth fell open speechless for the first time.
Leah opened the door.
"You can leave now," she said. "And take your insecurity with you."
Vivian stared between them, tears of humiliation burning in her eyes. "Frank will never accept this."
Edward shrugged. "That's his problem, not ours."
Vivian shook, swallowed, and then stormed out, slamming the door so hard the frame quivered.
Silence filled the room again.
Leah let out a long, shaky exhale.
Edward slid his arms around her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"You handled that better than I would have," he murmured.
"I know," she breathed, leaning back into him.
He smiled into her neck. "You were incredible."
Leah closed her eyes.
For the first time since this entire twisted, chaotic, beautiful story began…
she felt powerful.
Wanted.
Defended.
Chosen.
Vivian had come to destroy her.
Instead, Leah had risen.