Dad sighed too.

"Lola, I know this isn't fair to you. But you know how good Christine has been to you all these years. Can't we just consider this repaying her kindness?"

A tangle of emotions knotted in my chest.

"Aunt Christine, I understand your situation. But this can't stay hidden. Leo's about to start school, and the enrollment slot for this villa's school district is tied to my household registration. The moment they run a check, everything comes out."

Christine froze. She clearly hadn't thought of that.

"Here's what I suggest," I said, softening my tone. "I have a small apartment downtown—also in a good school district. Vivian's family can move there so Leo can enroll. But this villa? You have to tell Vivian the truth."

Dad's eyes went red immediately. "Lola... thank you for thinking of this family."

I squeezed his hand. "Dad, we are family."

In that moment, I meant it with every fiber of my being.

But I had underestimated the depth of human greed.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Vivian's attitude toward me changed completely.

"Some people are thirty and still can't land a husband. And they have the nerve to leech off their parents."

"Freeloading every single day—who does she think she is, a princess?"

"Leo, sweetie, don't ever turn out like your aunt. A grown woman still mooching off her family."

These snide little jabs came at me daily.

Every time, I told myself: Let it go. A peaceful family is a prosperous one.

Until the fifth night of the New Year.

I'd gone out for drinks with some old high school friends and didn't get home until well past midnight. Not wanting to wake anyone, I left the lights off and felt my way upstairs to my bedroom.

I shrugged off my coat, half-dazed, and drifted toward the bathroom, thinking of nothing but a hot shower and sleep.

My fingers had just closed around the bathroom door handle when it swung open from the inside.

A woman wrapped in a towel shrieked and stumbled backward. I screamed too.

It was Vivian.

"What are you doing in my room?" My heart was still hammering.

Vivian's face shifted the instant she recognized me. "What do you mean, your room? This is my house!"

That's when I noticed—every piece of furniture, every item in the bedroom had been rearranged. None of it was mine.

"What the hell happened here?"

Christine rushed upstairs and grabbed my arm.

"Lola, listen to me. This afternoon while you were out, Vivian said this room gets the best sunlight. She thinks Leo needs more sun exposure to help him grow, so she moved in."

Heat crept up my neck. "Without even asking me?"

"Asking you?" Vivian pulled on a robe, chin lifted with righteous indignation. "I'm living in my own home. Who exactly do I need permission from?"

Dad had been woken by the commotion. He appeared at the doorway, took one look at the scene, and his expression turned to stone.

"This is outrageous! Who told you to touch Lola's room? Move everything back. Now."

Vivian's eyes glistened on cue. "Dad, Leo is your grandson too. Can't you think about him for once? That north-facing bedroom barely gets any light. If he develops a calcium deficiency, is that what you want?"

"That's still no excuse to move in without permission!"

The argument was escalating. I drew a long breath. "Forget it, Dad. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight."

Christine's face pinched with discomfort. "Lola... the guest room is packed with Leo's old toys. It hasn't been cleaned out yet."

"Then where am I supposed to sleep?"

She pointed toward the far end of the hallway. "I moved your things into the storage room. Why don't you sleep there tonight?"

I laughed—the kind of laugh that comes when you're too angry to do anything else.

"The storage room is barely fifty square feet. It doesn't even have a window. You expect me to sleep in there?"

Vivian strolled over with Leo on her hip, voice dripping with mock sweetness.

"No window? Then go sleep on the third floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows, plus a skylight in the ceiling. You can stargaze before bed."

Christine actually nodded along. "She's right, the third floor has a lovely view—"

I looked straight at her. "If the third floor is so wonderful, why don't we move Vivian up there instead?"

Christine waved her hands frantically.

"That won't work. There's no heating or air conditioning on the third floor—it's below freezing up there. It'll make Leo sick..."

The words were barely out before she realized her mistake. She clamped her mouth shut.

Dad shot her a withering glare, then turned to me with a softer expression.

"Lola, just bear with the toy room for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll make sure your sister-in-law moves out of your room."

Looking at his weary face, I felt my heart soften again.

But that night, I accidentally overheard a secret that shattered everything.

At two in the morning, I woke up needing to use the bathroom and shuffled groggily toward the shared restroom at the end of the hall.

As I passed the master bedroom, I caught the sound of hushed voices inside.

Christine. And my father.

"When are you going to make her leave? Vivian said today that if Lola doesn't move out, she's taking Leo back to her parents' house!"

"What's the rush?" Dad's voice was clipped, irritated. "These things take time."

"How can I not rush? Vivian's pregnant with her second! If all this stress causes complications, how are you going to explain that to your son?"

"And another thing—is the stuff you've been giving her not working? It's been over a week. She hasn't shown any symptoms at all."

Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice.

Stuff? What stuff?

"Of course it's working." Dad's voice dropped even lower. "How do you think her mother went?"

I clamped both hands over my mouth. Mom—Mom died from organ failure after the car accident. That's what they told me.

"Then increase the dose!" Christine hissed through clenched teeth. "Hit her from both sides. I refuse to believe we can't finish her off. She has to die—it's the only way the house transfers to Rhys's name without raising suspicion. That's the only thing that'll keep Vivian quiet."

"I know. I'll handle it..."

I backed into the storage room, locked the door, and pressed my spine against it.

My whole body was shaking.

All these years, I'd believed Christine genuinely cared about me.

After Mom passed, she was the one who braided my hair, attended parent-teacher conferences, brewed brown sugar tea when my cramps were bad.

I even remembered my senior year—I'd had a fever, and she sat by my hospital bed the entire night.

Was all of it a lie?

And Dad. The man who, in every memory I had, loved my mother more than anything—he was the one who helped kill her?

No wonder I'd been dizzy and nauseous lately. I'd chalked it up to exhaustion.

They'd been poisoning me.

Don't panic.

If I stormed out there now to confront them, I had no proof. I'd only tip them off.

I had to stay calm. For Mom.

The next morning, I acted as though nothing had happened and got up at my usual time.

Dad and Christine had taken Leo to the park. Rhys was at work. That left just me and my sister-in-law.

She'd actually made breakfast.

"Lola, how'd you sleep last night?"

I sat down at the table but didn't touch the food.

"Vivian, if you have something to say, just say it."

Her smile stiffened. She lowered herself into the chair across from me.

"Lola, I was up all night thinking about this. I know I was harsh yesterday, but you have to see things from my side."

"Leo's about to start school. I'm pregnant again. The expenses are real, and your brother's salary only goes so far..."

She paused, then pressed on.

"You're Leo's aunt, after all. If we actually kicked you out, people would talk—say we couldn't tolerate family under our own roof. So here's what I'm thinking: you stay, but you contribute ten thousand a month toward household expenses."

"Honestly, a place like this in this neighborhood? You'd be looking at thirty thousand a month on the rental market, easy. Ten thousand is the family discount." She straightened in her seat. "But going forward, you'll need to pull your weight around the house—groceries, cooking, cleaning, picking up and dropping off Leo. All of it."

"Oh, and that New Year's Eve dinner? It cost your brother eighty-eight thousand. You should chip in for that too."

Looking at that entitled expression on her face, I couldn't help but laugh.

"You know what, sis? You're absolutely right. If someone's living in another person's house, they should pay for it."

Her eyes lit up. "You agree?"

I let out a cold scoff.

"But the one who should be paying isn't me. It's you."

Her expression froze mid-smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I tapped the table slowly, deliberately.

"This villa is mine."

"I've let you all live here rent-free out of family courtesy. But since you're so concerned about boundaries, let me draw some clear ones. You have one week to move out."

I paused, letting that sink in.

"Of course, if you'd like to stay, that's fine too. Ten thousand a month. Family discount."

"Oh, and that New Year's Eve dinner? I picked up the tab. Don't forget to pay me back."

The color drained from her face. She completely lost it.

"You're lying! There's no way this house is yours!"