Chapter 1

I drained my savings and took out a loan to buy an apartment, and my brother said he'd crash there for three months, just to get back on his feet.

Three months turned into two solid years.

Every mortgage payment, every utility bill, every HOA fee came out of my pocket. He never paid a cent.

I'd lost my job recently, and I was about to fall behind on the mortgage, so I asked my brother if he could kick in a token amount of rent.

In front of the entire family, he smashed the TV I'd bought.

"Living in your place means I'm here guarding it for you. I haven't charged you a security fee, and you've got the nerve to ask me for money?"

My mother kept her head down over her phone, like she hadn't heard a thing.

I didn't say a word. I just swept up the broken glass.

A week later, my brother brought his girlfriend's whole family over to talk wedding plans, and he barked orders at me.

"Aria Dickerson, my future in-laws are coming to see the wedding home today. Your place is in a good school district, so it's perfect for making me look good."

I glanced at the title-transfer paperwork I'd just finalized, and I smiled.

"Sure."

...

When my brother Steve Dickerson threw the new TV I'd bought onto the floor, broken glass sprayed everywhere.

The doorway was packed with neighbors, every one of them there for the show.

Only my mother, Sibyl Finch, sat on the couch playing on her phone as if none of it were happening.

I looked at Steve, still in a rage, then at my mother, unmoved by any of it.

I gave up arguing and swept the broken glass into the trash.

Behind me, Steve was still shouting.

"You ungrateful little thing. I stay a few days in your dump of an apartment and you dare ask me for money. One more word out of you and I'll tear the door off its hinges!"

I said nothing.

Downstairs, taking out the trash, I noticed the glass had cut my hand. But it was nothing next to the pain in my chest.

I took out my phone and pulled up Corey Lambert, the agent who'd sold me the place.

"Hey, Corey? I want to sell that apartment."

"I don't care if I take a loss. As long as the buyer meets my conditions."

Once I'd said what I needed to, I didn't go home.

I went straight to the county property records office, got the paperwork prepared ahead of time, and rented another apartment.

It was past nine at night before I headed back.

I could hear my mother's shrieking all the way out in the stairwell.

"What does a girl need her own apartment for? She'll be married off sooner or later. She already bought it, so what's the harm in letting her own brother live there a few years?"

"And she has the gall to ask for rent. Is that any way for an older sister to act?"

Steve chimed in, indignant.

"Exactly. Me living in her place is me keeping it safe. This lousy complex has terrible security anyway. With me here, no thief would come near it."

"She can't even be grateful, and now she wants to squeeze rent out of me? Is she out of her mind?"

My mother worked herself up further.

"A girl her age, and instead of hurrying up to land a husband and bring in a bride price, she's turning around and demanding money from her own family. What a waste of money she is!"

"Her brother living here builds up the place's energy. A home with no one in it falls apart. She doesn't understand a damn thing."

"When she gets back, let's set her straight. No more of this cold, standoffish behavior. It hurts the family."

My father, Humphrey Dickerson, muttered a single line.

"The apartment is hers, after all. She bought it."

My mother's voice shot up at once.

"So what if she bought it? I gave birth to her! Same womb as her brother! Isn't it a sister's job to help her brother out?"

"Besides, once she's married off, she can't take the apartment with her. Sooner or later it comes back to this family anyway, doesn't it?"

My father went quiet again, dropped his head, and smoked.

I didn't listen to any more of it. I opened the door and walked in.

The whole family's heads snapped up.

When they saw it was me, one face turned uglier than the next.

I didn't speak. I just took out my suitcase and started packing my things.

Steve saw it, put his hands on his hips, and demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"

I kept packing without looking up.

"Moving out."

His eyebrows shot up and he started yelling.

"Aria, what exactly do you want?"

"I already live here. You have to pull this stunt and make it miserable for everyone?"

"Can you not be so uptight? Blowing up one little thing until the whole house is in chaos?"

My hands stopped folding clothes for a second. I looked up at him and smiled.

"You're right. I won't make a fuss anymore."

Then I zipped the suitcase shut, stepped past him, and walked out the door.

At the entryway, my mother crossed her arms and sneered.

"Go. If you've got the guts, don't ever come back."

"I'd like to see it. Away from this family, what could you possibly make of yourself?"

Steve shouted after me.

"Mom, don't bother with her. Let her go. Without family behind her, she's nothing!"

My father never lifted his head.

With their curses trailing after me, I changed my shoes, wheeled my suitcase out, and left the complex.

I took a cab back to the apartment I'd rented that day and dug out my phone.

On the screen was a text the agent had just sent.

"Aria, found a buyer. Full cash. We sign the contract tomorrow."

I rested easy that night.