Chapter 3

Chloe lost her mind.

"Nora! You dare cut me off?!"

"You're just jealous that I'm living the high life abroad while you rot away as a disgusting, pathetic mortician!"

"Why don't you drop dead and join Mom and Dad in the cemetery, you curse?!"

*A curse.*

I had heard that word so many times.

Years ago, whenever neighborhood kids called me that, little Chloe would grab a toilet plunger and charge at them:

*"Wash your filthy mouth out!"*

Now, that same word cut into me from her own lips.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

"If you have that much pride, why don't you earn your own money and buy your own bags?"

I hung up without another word.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed, sleep completely out of reach.

Around 2:00 AM, a faint scratching sound came from the front door. Someone was picking the lock.

I didn't panic. Slipping out of bed, I crept toward the hallway.

Through the shadow, a silhouette tip-toed toward the wall safe in my study.

The moonlight hit his face.

It was Sean.

He quietly opened the safe door, his face twisting into greedy excitement.

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed my defense spray from the shelf and lunged forward.

"Aaargh—!"

I flicked the overhead switch. Bright white light flooded the room.

Sean collapsed onto the floor, clutching his face and screaming as the heavy pepper spray burned his eyes.

"Breaking in to rob your own sister, Sean?" I stared down at him, my voice freezing cold.

The safe combination had always been our parents’ death anniversary. I had never hidden it from them.

Yet I never imagined Sean would sink to this level.

"Don't call it robbing! Your money is my money!" Sean groaned through his tears, barely prying one burning eye open.

"Besides, you wouldn't give it to me! What choice did I have?!"

Looking at his pathetic, sniveling face, I couldn't see a single trace of the little boy who used to massage my tired shoulders after a sixteen-hour shift.

I grabbed a silicone mannequin head from my workstation and slammed it down beside him.

"Where did you hide the house money?! Hand it over!"

"Are you really trying to stop me from getting married?!" Sean thrashed wildly on the rug.

I watched him with complete detachment.

"Breaking and entering. Attempted grand larceny."

"You really outdid yourself, Sean."

Sean sneered defiantly.

"What? You gonna call the cops on your own flesh and blood?"

Before I could speak, a hurried whisper came from the cracked hallway door.

"Sean, what’s taking so long?"

Seeing no response, Chloe crept into the study.

Her eyes met mine, and she froze, glancing around in panic.

Looking at them, every piece fell into place.

They had planned this together.

They assumed I kept the cash proceeds in the safe, hoping to wipe me out in one clean sweep.

Seeing that they were caught, Chloe immediately puffed out her chest.

"What are you staring at?! Sean and I are just taking back what's rightfully ours!"

I chuckled in disbelief.

"Yours? What belongs to you?"

"You two have done nothing but treat me like an ATM."

Chloe scowled fiercely.

"Drop the act, Nora! When Mom and Dad died, their estate was supposed to be split three ways!"

"You hoarded all their money for seven years and expected us to worship you!"

"You make me sick!"

My anger turned into cold amusement.

"Our parents didn't leave a single dime. I had to borrow money just to buy their cremation urns."

"Every stitch of clothes you wear, every flight you took, was paid for with the money I earned dressing corpses."

"What damn estate are you talking about?"

Chloe flared up, stamping her foot.

"Bullshit!"

"Mom and Dad specifically said that money was enough to set us up for life! How could there be nothing left?!"