Chapter 2

Right after that, Mom's stepdaughter, stepson, and her second husband all showed up.

The boy rushed over to Sarah Davis as soon as he walked in, acting all cute and clingy.

"Mom! We're here! Where's the real estate agent? How's the house sale going?" he asked.

"You promised me that once the house is sold, you'd set aside the wedding money for me. Don't play favorites and give it all to my sister!" he complained.

The girl smiled quietly at her brother.

"Don't worry, little bro. I'll definitely take care of you. There's no way I'd compete with you for the wedding money," she said.

"But Mom, once the house is sold, could you chip in some money so I can buy a car?" she asked.

The man walked over to Sarah and shot me a look.

"You must be Sarah's brother, right?" he said.

"Oh, we came in such a rush, I didn't even bring a little gift for you," he added.

I didn't even spare them a glance. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.

"Sister, brother-in-law," I said.

"This house is mine. The entire inheritance from Mom and Dad belongs to me. You have no right to mess with it," I declared.

As soon as I finished speaking, the whole room went dead silent.

The boy's smile froze on his face, and the girl's expression turned sour.

The man frowned and looked at Sarah.

Sarah, under everyone's gaze, looked like she wished she could just disappear. She glared at me, her voice trembling with both shame and anger.

"Paul! Don't go too far!" she snapped.

She was trying to threaten me, but she didn't dare expose the twisted step-sibling thing between us.

"This house belonged to my mom and dad. How could it possibly be yours?" Mom retorted.

I held up the deed. "Why not? Just because I'm younger doesn't mean I don't get a share, right?"

"Before Mom and Dad passed away, I was the one who shouldered all the responsibility for taking care of them. You guys didn't do a damn thing," I said.

"Legally or morally, you have no claim to this house," I added.

The boy was getting anxious. After all, Mom had promised him that once the house was sold, she'd set aside the wedding money for him.

He started yelling at me.

"This house has always belonged to my mom! She's their daughter, so it should be hers! Who are you anyway? What gives you the right to fight my mom for it?" he snapped.

I stared him down. "I'm also Mom and Dad's son, and officially listed as your mom's brother.

"If we're talking about qualifications, you don't even have the right to stand here and speak."

Mom rushed to shield the boy, like I was some kind of monster about to eat him alive.

"Don't you yell at my son!" she barked.

She looked absolutely outraged by my 'defiance,' jabbing her finger at the door as she shouted, "Get out! This is my parents' house. You have no right to throw your weight around here!"

"Get out?" I scoffed, shaking my head. "This is the home I've lived in for more than a decade. It's where I took care of Mom and Dad right up until they were gone. The ones who should be leaving are all of you."

The man squinted at me for a few seconds, then grabbed Mom's arm. "Come on, let's head back first. We'll deal with this later."

Mom was still furious, shaking him off and refusing to leave. "Why should I go? This is my house!"

The man kept his voice low. "Arguing isn't going to solve anything."

He scanned the room, obviously worried the neighbors might catch wind and come over for the show.

Mom paused, then shot me a vicious glare before finally turning and following him out the door.

The boy and girl trailed after them, clearly not happy about it. As the boy walked past me, he shouldered past me on purpose.

"Psycho. Cheapskate," he muttered.

I ignored her.

Just as they reached the hallway, the man suddenly stopped and turned to me.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Paul. This house isn't necessarily yours," he said.

"Even if you get most of it, Sarah is their real daughter. Blood is blood, she's got a right to inherit, and that won't change," he added.

He grinned, confident he'd already won.

"We've got all the time in the world to wait you out. But you? You're just a college kid, can you really keep up with us?" he sneered.

With that, they turned and strutted out without waiting for my reply.

His message couldn't have been clearer.

As soon as they walked out, I started sorting through all the evidence that I'd been the one supporting and caring for Mom and Dad all these years.

I dug out their medical records, page after page, every signature was mine.

I found all the receipts for their medications and hospital bills from over the years.

Neat stacks covered the table, enough to fill two entire document folders.

I also reached out to the home nurse who used to look after them, and the neighbors, everyone was willing to vouch for me.

All this was more than enough to prove that for over three years, I was the one who looked after them in every possible way, while Sarah never bothered to show her face.