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.
