Chapter 3

"Besides, there's nothing of value left in your room anyway. After all, it's all been smashed to pieces, isn't it?" Tyler added.

I took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to flip over the coffee table.

"That was a fingerprint lock. If it ran out of battery, all it needed was a recharge. So, how could it be broken? Moreover, that's my room. What gives you the right to change the lock without my consent?"

Alison shot to her feet. "Arlene, you'd better get this straight—this is Dad and Mom's house, and I'm the eldest daughter of this family! Since when do I need to report to you just to change a lock?

"You live in another city and barely come home twice a year. This room is just going to waste sitting empty. After Christmas, I'm turning your room into Celeste's study.

"From now on, when you come back, you can sleep on the couch and rough it for a couple of days."

Just then, Mom came out of the kitchen with a plate of hot food.

"What's all the shouting about? Go wash your hands for dinner. Arlene, don't just stand there—bring the soup from the kitchen!"

"Mom, did you know Alison is going to turn my room into Celeste's study?" I asked.

Mom set the dish down on the table.

"Of course I know. Celeste is about to start elementary school. She needs a quiet place to do her homework. Your room gets good light, so it's perfect for her. You'll get married and move out eventually. Once you're gone, you're not our problem anymore. So, why would I hold onto a room for you?"

I had not only paid the down payment for this house, but I also covered the monthly mortgage.

Back when we bought the place, Dad and Mom said to put it in their names so that when Alison got married, she wouldn't have to bring anything to the marriage.

And now, I was the one getting tossed out like yesterday's news.

"Eat!" Dad sat at the head of the table and rapped his knuckles against it.

Tyler made a point of having Celeste sit right next to me.

No sooner had we sat down than Celeste grabbed a drumstick, took a bite, and then flung it away. The drumstick came flying over and smacked right into my white puffer jacket. A huge grease stain instantly bloomed across the fabric.

Celeste laughed, slapping the table. "Aunt Arlene is a dirty pig!"

Tyler half-heartedly pulled two tissues from the dispenser and handed them to me.

"Oh, Celeste, you're such a little troublemaker. Arlene, you got that jacket from a thrift store right? Don't worry. I'll give you a couple of my jackets from last season that I don't wear anymore."

Alison looked on with adoring eyes and placed a piece of grilled rib onto Celeste's plate.

"Celeste, what a great throw! You could be a basketball player when you grow up."

Suddenly, I laughed.

"What are you laughing at, freak?" Alison muttered.

I picked up my fork and speared a piece of broccoli, putting it in my mouth.

"Nothing. I just think this meal is pretty expensive."

Tyler curled his lip. "Pfft. How much could home cooking possibly cost?"

Late that night, I lay on the living room couch with a thin blanket over me.

My room was locked, and the key had conveniently gone missing. The guest room was so crammed with Tyler's flipped sneaker boxes that I couldn't even step inside.

Dad and Mom said, "The living room has good heating. Just make do for the night."

At 2:00 am, I woke up thirsty.

I got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. As I passed by the door of the master bedroom, I heard voices from inside.

Alison's voice was barely a whisper. "Honey, Arlene took pictures of the smashed figurines just now. She's not really going to call the cops, is she? I looked online, and those stupid figurines of hers might actually be worth a lot of money."

Tyler let out a dismissive snort.

"Call the cops? Over what? This is our house, and Celeste is only five years old. What are the cops going to do, arrest a kid? At worst, it's a family mediation. We'd just have to pay a few hundred dollars, and that's it.

"Besides, Mom and Dad are right here. If Arlene dares to call the cops on Celeste, Mom and Dad will break her legs."

Alison giggled. "True. Oh, and seeing the look on her face today was so satisfying. She walks around acting like some big shot city professional, but the moment she comes home, she still has to wait on me hand and foot."

Tyler continued, "And this is just the beginning. Tomorrow, we'll make her take us Christmas shopping, and we'll only grab the expensive stuff. Didn't she just get her year-end bonus? I heard it's over 100 thousand dollars.

"Once we bleed her dry, she won't be able to afford a place in the city. Then, she'll have no choice but to crawl back here and get married. I've already got someone in mind—that crippled guy, Andy Goff, from the east side of the village.

"He's willing to pay 100 thousand dollars to the bride's family—any woman would do. After Arlene marries him, that 100 thousand dollars can go straight into savings for Celeste to buy a house in the future.

"We should also transfer this house into Celeste's name as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more things could go wrong."

Alison said excitedly, "Honey, you're a genius! This is what they call robbing someone blind, right? We'll squeeze her dry until not a cent is left!"

"Shh, keep it down. Don't let her hear you!"

"So what if she did? This is our turf. What's she going to do about it?"

I stood in the shadows, the glass in my hand ice-cold.

They didn't just want my room. No, they wanted to bleed me dry like a human cash cow, and sell me off to a cripple after they'd sucked out every last drop.

I pulled out my phone and opened the voice recording app.

"Oh, and honey, when we go to the mall tomorrow, I want that gold bracelet. You know, the one that costs 20 thousand dollars? Make Arlene pay for it."

"Sure. You can buy whatever you want. It's not like she's married or has kids. If she hangs onto her money, it'll just end up with some stranger. So, she might as well spend it on us."

The recording hit the five-minute mark. I pressed stop and saved it. Then, I opened the home security app.

Back then, I installed surveillance cameras in the living room and hallway so I could keep an eye on my parents, who were living alone.

They'd probably long forgotten those two cameras were even there.

I pulled up the playback from earlier that day.

The footage clearly showed Tyler using my spare key to open the door, then instructing Celeste to go inside.

"Celeste, go on in and smash all those ugly figurines into pieces! When you're done, I'll buy you a Barbie doll."

Alison stood by with a cold smirk.

"Smash it good. Don't leave anything for your Aunt Arlene."

The evidence was conclusive.

The charge would be instructing a minor to destroy property, with the value involved being extraordinarily high.

Since they wanted to bleed me dry, I decided that I'd turn the tables around and make sure they didn't get a single penny out of me.

I backed up the recordings and videos to the cloud. Then, I sent a WhatsApp message to my friend, Marsha Hurst, who worked at a law firm.

"Do you want to take on a big case? The minimum settlement is seven figures, and it includes both criminal and civil charges."

She replied instantly, "I'm in. Whose case is it?"

I answered, "Mine. I'm sending my sister and her family to jail."