Chapter 4 - The Bitter Reversal
The flashback faded, bringing Paige sharply back to the bright, sunlit present.
Paige looked at the idling white moving van. The cinematic irony of the universe was almost poetic.
Over the last twelve years, Paige had never stopped fighting. She worked three jobs, put herself through night school, and eventually launched a wildly successful tech logistics company. She had built massive, untouchable wealth from absolute scratch, buying this sprawling, gated estate as her ultimate sanctuary.
Meanwhile, Mallory and Grant had burned through their stolen wedding money in months. Grant was a chronic failure, constantly launching pathetic "startups" that bled money. Six months ago, his biggest venture collapsed entirely, leaving them drowning in massive debt.
Desperate to maintain her golden child's lifestyle, Diane had secretly taken out a massive reverse mortgage on the family home to bail Grant out.
The business still failed. And yesterday, the bank had fully foreclosed on Diane's house.
They were completely, entirely broke. They had nowhere to go. So, Diane had somehow tracked down her estranged daughter's address, rented a cheap van with her last credit card, and showed up expecting Paige to simply absorb their massive financial failures and house them for free.
Paige’s micro-expressions immediately hardened into absolute, unbreakable coldness.
May you like
"I'm not going to ask you again, Paige!" Diane screamed, rattling the heavy gate so hard the metal clanged loudly. "Open this gate right now!"
👉 What devastating, ice-cold reality check is Paige about to drop?
