The darkness lasted four seconds. Then the villa’s emergency system woke with a low mechanical hum, and steel shutters dropped over every window at once. Dad shouted for Rochelle to find a switch while Garrett’s phone flashlight swept the living room. On my screen, I watched Josephine rush the front door, only to find the deadbolts had already locked themselves. A calm recorded voice filled every room: “Unauthorized occupants detected. Local authorities have been notified.”

Rochelle began screaming at the camera I had never told them about. Marcus’s voice came through my phone: “Natalie, the sheriff is nine minutes out, and the county flagged the deed your father signed in March.” Dad dropped the box, his face turning gray in the emergency glow. Then the speaker crackled again, and the voice that came out was Dad’s own, recorded months earlier, saying words he never knew I had kept.