“Please,” I said. “Party favors.”
They opened them.
“It’s a bank transfer,” I narrated evenly. “May 12th, 2019. Forty-two thousand dollars withdrawn from my education trust. Transferred to Barbara Carter. Then to escrow for Chloe’s house.”
Fifty pairs of eyes turned to my mother.
Aunt Karen went pale. “Barbara… you said Maya gambled it away.”
“I was holding it!” my mother stammered.
“You spent it on a patio,” I replied.
I stepped closer.
“I worked three jobs while you bought curtains. I built a tech company while you told everyone I was a failure. I sold it for more money than you will see in ten lifetimes.”
I gestured to my lawyer.
“You’re being served for fraud and embezzlement. We’ve placed a lien on the property purchased with stolen funds.”
Chloe’s house.
Chapter 5: The Eviction of Ego
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
“Maya, darling,” Aunt Karen rushed forward. “I always knew you were special.”
“No,” I said. “You laughed.”
I turned to all of them.
“This isn’t a reunion. It’s an eviction.”
Chloe sobbed beside her Range Rover.
My mother dropped to her knees.
“We’re family!”
“Family doesn’t steal my future to build a pergola.”
I pointed toward the gates.
“Five minutes.”
I walked inside.
The doors closed behind me.
Outside, chaos erupted.
Chapter 6: The View from the Top
Three months later.
The judgment arrived.
In my favor.
Principal. Interest. Damages.
Chloe’s house was seized.
I felt a flicker of sadness — not for them.
For the little girl I used to be. The girl who wanted her mother’s approval.
She was gone.
In her place stood a woman who knew her worth.
I funded a scholarship for students cut off by their parents.
“It’s not generosity,” I told my assistant. “It’s investment.”
I looked down at the Eastside lights twinkling below.
The black sheep had built a castle.
“To the Eastside,” I whispered.
And I went inside a home that was finally mine.
