Minerva's smile vanished. "You can't be serious."
"I am."
"You're really going to punish me for falling in love?" she asked. "You're overreacting. Just because I cheated doesn't mean I can't stay at your house while I figure things out."
"I'm ending a relationship that you already ended without telling me. Those aren't the same thing."
She pushed her chair back. "Fine. But I have rights. I live here. You can't just kick me out."
I was angry enough to say something foolish. I told her she had two hours to collect her things, and that I wanted her gone that night. She held up her phone and began recording before I had finished speaking. "Say that again," she demanded. "Tell everyone how you're throwing me out because your ego is bruised."
I took out my own phone, not because I wanted a viral video but because I was beginning to understand that tomorrow's version of this conversation might be very different from tonight's. "I'm telling you that we have broken up and I want you to leave voluntarily," I said. "I am not going to touch you or your belongings. If you think you have a legal right to remain, we'll need to resolve it properly."
"So you're threatening me with lawyers now?"
"No. I'm trying to make sure neither of us does something stupid."
She walked into the hallway, called Landon, and spoke loudly enough for me to hear. "Patrick's being unstable," she said. "He's literally telling me I can't live here because I'm engaged. I told you he'd do this." I stood beside the dining table and looked at the tiramisu. The dessert was still in the refrigerator, waiting for a celebration that had been designed for everyone except me.
When Minerva returned, she said Landon thought I was abusive and that she would involve the authorities if I tried to remove her. I told her I wanted the situation documented and called the police nonemergency line. The dispatcher asked whether anyone was threatened or injured. I said no, then explained that we had an escalating household dispute and wanted assistance keeping the peace while we discussed a voluntary move. The dispatcher said an officer could respond when available, but warned that officers could not decide a housing case on my front porch.
That distinction would matter later. At the time, I was too shaken to appreciate it. I had assumed ownership of the house and the absence of rent payments made the answer simple. It wasn't. A person can establish rights of occupancy without a written lease or a monthly rent check, and having my name on the mortgage did not grant me permission to throw her possessions onto the driveway or change locks while she was still legally living there. I learned that in an awkward conversation with an officer standing beneath the porch light while Minerva watched with obvious satisfaction.