My water bill suddenly doubled while my children were away, and I couldn’t understand how—until I caught my former mother-in-law running a garden hose from my outdoor faucet straight into her swimming pool.

She laughed when I demanded repayment. What she had forgotten was a secret she’d once told me about that pool—and the HOA was going to be very interested in hearing it.

The house beside mine had been vacant for exactly nine days when Diana bought it.

I remember counting because every morning I secretly hoped someone—anyone—would purchase it before my mother-in-law did.

“I want to live closer to my son,” she announced on moving day. “Harold needs his mother nearby.”

Harold, who was still my husband then, simply shrugged and carried another box inside.

“She’s family,” he said. “It’ll be fine.”

It was anything but fine.

From the beginning, Diana behaved as though the fence separating our properties was merely decorative.