My father is pale, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
My mother is crying, but I know now that her tears are just a defense mechanism.
“You played nice,” I say. “You put on a show, but you forgot that Aunt Lydia has always hated how you treated me.”
“Lydia is a liar!” my mother screeches. “She’s jealous of us!”
“Jealous of what?” I ask. “Your underwater mortgage? Your failed golden child? Your broken morality?”
I walk closer to them.
“You didn’t come here for me. You came here for a payday. You thought you could guilt-trip me into funding your retirement. You thought I was still the scared nineteen-year-old girl who begged for your love.”
I lean in close to Sienna.
“But I’m not her anymore. I’m the woman who built an empire while sleeping in a car. And I don’t owe you a single penny.”
Sienna glares at me with pure hatred. “You think you’re so special because you have money. You’re still alone. No one really loves you. They just love your wallet.”
“Actually,” a voice says from the doorway.
We all turn.
Uncle Clark is standing there. He looks furious. Beside him is McKenna, holding a phone and recording everything.
“Clark,” my father whispers.
“Hello, Walter,” Clark says. He walks over and stands next to me. “She’s not alone. She has a family. A real one. One that didn’t throw her away like trash.”
“Get out,” I say.
“Valyria, please,” my mother sobs. “We can explain. Those texts were taken out of context—”
“Get out,” I repeat. “Now.”
“We’re not leaving until we get what we deserve!” Sienna screams.
She grabs the crystal vase from the table—the one she checked earlier—and hurls it at the floor. It shatters into a million pieces.
“Oops,” she sneers. “My bad energy slipped.”
I press the intercom button on the wall.
“Miller. Davis. You’re up.”
The front door opens instantly. My two security guards step in. They are huge, imposing, and not smiling.
“Escort these trespassers off the property,” I say. “If they resist, call the police.”
“You wouldn’t,” my father says, shocked. “We are your blood.”
“You lost that right when you locked me out in the rain,” I tell him. “Go before I charge you for the vase.”
The scene that followed was pathetic.
Miller and Davis didn’t have to use force, but their presence was enough. Sienna screamed profanities the entire way out. She called me a witch, a thief, a lonely spinster. My mother wailed about how she gave birth to me.
My father just looked defeated, shuffling to the door with his head down.
I watched them get into their beige rental car. I watched them drive down the winding driveway until they disappeared behind the iron gates.
When they were gone, McKenna turned off her camera.
“I got it all,” she said. “Just in case they try to sue.”
“They won’t,” Clark said. “Walter is a coward. He knows he’s beaten.”
I looked at the shattered crystal on the floor. It was a $5,000 vase, but seeing it broken didn’t make me sad.
It felt like a release.
