“What’s happening?” I asked, tightening my grip on the strap of my guitar case.
Before Cheryl could respond, a tall man in an immaculate suit stepped past her into the doorway. His expression was cold, professional. He adjusted his glasses and glanced between Cheryl’s pale face and mine.
“Miss Morison?” he said calmly. “I’m Arthur Sterling, senior partner at your father’s law firm. We’ve been attempting to contact you since yesterday. Unfortunately, it appears your stepmother… misplaced your information.”
Cheryl let out a brittle laugh and grabbed my arm, her hands clammy. “Arthur, please, don’t exaggerate. She went off camping to cope with her grief! I was just welcoming her home.” She leaned closer, squeezing hard, her nails biting into my skin. “We’re very close, aren’t we, sweetheart?”
I pulled away. “I wasn’t camping,” I said, meeting the lawyer’s eyes. “She threw me out two days ago. Told me I wasn’t family anymore.”
The blood drained from Cheryl’s face.
Mr. Sterling gave a slow nod and opened the leather folder in his hand. “That,” he said quietly, “is precisely what your father feared.” He turned to Cheryl, his voice sharp. “According to the Protection Clause in your late husband’s will: If my daughter is removed from the family home or denied access to her inheritance by my spouse, the spouse’s share of the estate is immediately revoked and transferred in full to my daughter.”
Cheryl staggered back. “No—no! You can’t! I was grieving! It was a misunderstanding!”
“The clause is ironclad,” Sterling replied, snapping the folder shut. He gestured toward the guards waiting by the SUVs. “The house, vehicles, and financial accounts now belong solely to Miss Morison. You have thirty minutes to collect your belongings and vacate the property. After that, law enforcement will intervene.”
Cheryl’s screams filled the porch as the guards stepped forward, but I didn’t look back. I walked past her tears, her lies, her greed—and crossed the threshold of my father’s house once more. I set my guitar down in the hallway.
I was finally home. And for the first time in five years, the air felt clean.
