After my parents died in a car crash, I was shattered. At the will reading, I found out they’d left the family home to my father’s sister, Dina – the one who’d always hated me. There was no money left; it had all gone to Mom’s treatments. Two days later, Dina showed up and said, “YOU’VE GOT ONE DAY TO GET OUT OF MY HOUSE.” I begged – told her I had nowhere to go. She did not care. While she stretched out on the couch watching TV, I folded my life into bags. The next morning, I walked out with tears in my eyes and saw a black limousine parked outside. I was about to walk past it when the door suddenly opened and I heard my name. I turned around and GASPED when I saw…
The Conclusion
…my father’s old business partner, Mr. Sterling, whom I hadn’t seen in over a decade. He looked at my tattered bags and my tear-stained face, then gestured for me to get inside.
“I’ve been waiting for this day, Sarah,” he said softly as the door clicked shut, muffling the sound of Dina screaming at me from the porch to ‘hurry up and leave.’
“What are you doing here?” I sobbed. “My aunt took everything. I have nothing left.”
Mr. Sterling handed me a heavy, wax-sealed envelope. “Your parents knew exactly who Dina was. They knew that if they left you the house and the money outright, she would spend years tying you up in court, draining your spirit and your inheritance.”
I opened the envelope with trembling hands. Inside was a deed to a penthouse in the city and a bank statement with a balance that made my breath hitch.
“The house your aunt just claimed?” Mr. Sterling smirked. “It’s been heavily mortgaged. Your father used the home as collateral to fund a secret trust for you that Dina can’t touch. In thirty days, the bank will seize that house. Dina didn’t inherit a home; she inherited a mountain of debt.”
I looked back through the tinted glass. Dina was standing on the lawn, triumphantly tossing my remaining clothes into the dirt. She had no idea she was standing on a sinking ship.
“Where to, Miss?” the driver asked.
I wiped my eyes and looked at the city skyline ahead. “Away from here,” I said firmly. “And don’t stop for anything.”
