Chapter 4

Over the next few days, I buried myself in work, using exhaustion to numb my mind.

But my mother had no intention of letting me go. She showed up at my corporate office with Uncle Frank's entire family in tow.

I was at my cubicle balancing quarterly sheets when screams erupted from the lobby.

"Serena Davis! Get your ungrateful ass out here right now!"

My mother’s piercing shriek instantly silenced the entire floor.

I set my pen down, took a deep breath, and walked out.

My mother was sprawled out on the marble floor of the lobby, wailing theatrically:

"Everyone, look at this! Look at the daughter I sacrificed everything to raise! Now that she makes good money, she throws her own mother out on the street!"

"She kicked us out of our home! She won't even give us a hot meal!"

Uncle Frank stood beside her, fanning the flames: "Serena, how can you do this to your mother? Do you have any idea how hard she worked to raise you?!"

When security tried to lift her up, my mother threw herself flat onto the floor, kicking and screaming like a toddler.

"I'm not leaving! If she doesn't hand over the deed today, I'm dying right here in this lobby!"

My department manager marched over, his face dark with fury. "Serena, what the hell is this? Deal with your family right now before you ruin the company's reputation!"

Looking at this humiliating circus, I felt an eerie, chilling calm wash over me.

I pulled out my phone and tapped play on a video.

It was the recording I took outside my condo door the night I stood freezing in the rain.

My mother’s cruel voice rang out crystal clear through the quiet lobby:

"I already wiped your fingerprint from the lock. I threw all your junk into the dumpster downstairs..."

"Get back to your cheap rental and stop trying to spread your germs to Tyler!"

The wailing stopped instantly. My mother froze.

"Mom, you said I'm heartless?"

I walked toward her, step by step.

"I bought that condo. I pay the mortgage. You locked your sick daughter out in the freezing rain just to give my home to your nephew."

"Tell me, who's the heartless one here?"

Whispers broke out among the surrounding crowd. My mother’s face flushed a deep, violent crimson.

"You... you liar! Your Uncle Frank saved our family back then! How can you be so petty?!"

"Saved our family?" I sneered. "Was it a debt of gratitude, or was it something else? You know the answer best, don't you?"

I turned my gaze directly to Uncle Frank.

"Uncle Frank, you've taken six hundred dollars from my mom every single month for five straight years. And Tyler’s fifteen-thousand-dollar college tuition? My mom paid that too."

"Every penny of that was my hard-earned money meant for her retirement."

"Haven't we repaid your so-called debt yet?"

Frank’s face drained of color. He stammered, unable to form a sentence.

Tyler jumped in, panicked: "Serena! Shut your lying mouth! Aunt Helen gave us that money willingly!"

"Willingly?"

"Well, since it was a gift, the handouts stop today."

"I already reported the deed lost and had a new one issued. And right now? That condo is officially sold."

The entire room went dead silent.

"What did you say?! You sold the condo?!"

My mother lunged toward me, raising her hand to slap me across the face.

I was ready. I took a swift step back, dodging her easily.

"That was Tyler's wedding house! How dare you sell it?!"

"My name is on the title. Why wouldn't I dare?"

Uncle Frank snarled frantically: "You can't sell it! The deed is in Tyler's hands!"

"I already voided the old one at the records office. Yours is just useless scrap paper."

Watching their faces twist in helpless rage gave me an intoxicating rush of relief.

Right then, two police officers walked into the lobby. They took one look at my mother and uncle and recognized them immediately.

"Perfect timing. Serena Davis filed a police report against you for grand theft and illegal property damage. You need to come down to the precinct with us."

My mother panicked completely.

"Officer, this is a misunderstanding! I'm her mother! How can taking a few things from my own daughter be considered stealing?!"

"Taking?" I added coldly. "You drilled my lock and ransacked my home."

The officers escorted them out, and I followed to give my formal statement.

Inside the precinct, I overheard Uncle Frank frantically calling my dad on speaker:

"Mark! You need to rein in this lunatic daughter of yours! She sold Tyler's wedding condo and called the cops to throw us in jail!"

Half an hour later, my father burst into the precinct.

The moment he saw me, he swung his hand and slapped me hard across the cheek.

"Smack!"

"You ungrateful monster! Drop the charges right now!"

My head snapped to the side, my ear ringing from the impact.

I held my burning cheek and glared at him with cold fury.

"I won't."

"Dad, there’s one thing I’ve never understood."

I stared straight into his eyes, stepping closer until he flinched:

"Tyler is just my cousin. Even if Uncle Frank helped us back then, does that justify you pushing your own flesh and blood into an early grave?"

"Giving him my money, giving him my home, leaving me to freeze and die in the rain just to pamper him?"

"Anyone watching would think Tyler was your biological son, and I was picked up from a dumpster!"

"Shut your mouth!" My dad raised his hand to strike me again.

The officer intervened instantly, grabbing his wrist. "Watch it! You dare hit someone right in front of the police?!"

My dad pointed a trembling finger at me, his face twisted in raw fury:

"Serena Davis, let me tell you the truth! Tyler "is" your biological brother! If I don't look after him, who will?!"