The staff had parked the car in the garage, and by the time Natasha got it out, Olivia was waiting, nted right on the curb.


    She stepped in front of the car, blocking Natasha’s path like she owned the road.


    Olivia’s dress was still a wreck, stained with grime, her hair a wet, matted mess from some spilled soup. But despite looking like she’d crawled out of a dumpster, she was practically radiating smug


    victory.


    Natasha could picture it clear as day–Olivia sweet–talking the rk family before heading out, ying the poor little victim who still cared about her “baby sis,” trying to glue the family back together.


    What a warm, fuzzy scene–doting parents, happy siblings, total Hallmark BS.


    The two faced off by the car, the air crackling with tension.


    “Natasha, I told you, didn’t I? Everything you’ve got, I’m taking back, piece by piece. You owe me,” Olivia said.<fnc388> Content originallyes from find?novel</fnc388>


    Natasha red at her adoptive sister, who’d been fighting her for every crumb since they were kids. She didn’t mince words. “What’s so great about my hand–me–downs? Anything I’ve touched, you just gotta snatch up like it’s treasure, huh? Olivia, you a creep or just that pathetic?”


    “Keep running your mouth,” Olivia scoffed, her face darkening before a sly smirk crept back. “You’re dying for Grandma’s house, aren’t you? Way more than when the rk family shares got handed to me. Too bad. After my car crash, Mom promised me that estate. In three days, it’s mine.


    “Some fortune–teller said I’ve got a weak vibe, that I need something old–like a house–to keep my life from going off the rails. So Mom and Dad picked that one without a second thought. Funny, huh? The thing you’ve been obsessed with forever just falls into myp.”


    Natasha’s fists clenched, knuckles white. She shed back to her parents‘ shifty looks when she’d brought up the estate, to Andrew’s slip about “giving it to your sister.”


    So it wasn’t just talk–they’d already decided. Engaged or not, that house was never gonna be hers.


    Andrew’s threats were just a weak stall tactic,


    She’de here clinging to a pathetic shred of hope they’d at least honor her grandma’sst wish.


    ‘What a sick joke, she thought bitterly.


    Her heart twisted, even though she thought she was done feeling their betrayal. They knew what that house meant to her.


    8:18 pm


    55 vouchers


    To Andrew and Madeline Dad, it probably didn’t matter who got it–Olivia or Natasha. But to Natasha, anyone else in the world could have it. Anyone but Olivia.


    Her eyes zed with a murderous glint.


    Olivia, still yapping, was loving every second, her face twisting with glee. “We’re both granddaughters, so why’d Grandma always pick you? If she wouldn’t give it to me, I’ll just take it. Your fault, Natasha.”


    She leaned in, whispering in Natasha’s ear with a nasty grin. “You say I don’t deserve it, but tough luck–the world doesn’t give a damn what you think. You couldn’t keep your man, and you sure as hell can’t keep that house.”


    Boom. Natasha’s mind roared, snapping back to that summer when she was seventeen.


    Peach trees bursting with fruit, cicadas droning, Natasha bounding over the doorstep with a basket, grinning, ready to show her grandma her mountain haul. Instead, she found pills scattered on the floor, an old woman gone, and Olivia’s cruel smirk staring her down.


    That was the moment her childhood shattered.


    The world stopped.


    “Argh-” Olivia’s smug rant cut off, her eyes wide with panic.


    Natasha’s hand mped around her throat, pinning her against the car. Olivia could barely choke out a breath.