Chapter 3

My custom-made, twenty-thousand-dollar reinforced security door had been violently ripped off its hinges, propped crookedly against the hallway wall.

Nasty, jagged scratches scarred the frame.

The once-pristine foyer was now piled high with cheap laundry bags and battered cardboard boxes.

Obnoxiously loud, trashy club beats were blasting from inside, mixed with raucous laughter from men and women having the time of their lives.

Stepping over the debris, I marched into the living room.

And what met my eyes inside almost drove me insane.

Aunt Brenda was sprawled out across my three-hundred-thousand-dollar imported Italian leather sofa, shoes and all.

Kevin and Sarah were posing right in front of my panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, having amateur photographers snap their tacky wedding shots with cheap DSLRs.

Beneath their feet lay the hand-woven Persian rug I had personally bought at an exclusive auction!

It was now ruined with filthy, muddy shoe prints, along with several charred black holes from extinguished cigarettes.

To make matters worse, the antique porcelain vases from the display cabinet had been yanked out and stuffed with cheap, gaudy plastic dollar-store roses!

Every drop of blood in my body rushed straight to my head.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

I unleashed a furious roar with every ounce of air in my lungs.

The blaring music abruptly stopped.

Everyone in the room turned around, looking at me like I was some lunatic making a scene.

Aunt Brenda sat up from the sofa, carelessly dusting snack crumbs off her shirt.

"Oh, look, it's Chloe! What brings you here?"

"Honestly, the soundproofing in this place is terrible. We play a little music inside, and you can hear it all the way out there?"

She had the audacity to blame my soundproofing!

Sarah gathered the hem of her cheap wedding dress and strutted over, looking smug.

"Since you're already here, Chloe, you might as well clean the place up for us."

"Look how much dust gathered while it sat empty! Do you have any idea how much work it took for us to move in?"

Kevin lit another cigarette, casually flicking the ashes straight onto my hundred-thousand-dollar rug.

"Chloe, out of respect for family, we'll just consider your silence as consent to rent the place to us."

"I already sent the fifty-dollar rent to your PayPal. Make sure you check your balance."

Looking at their sickeningly entitled faces, I burst into a bitter, infuriated laugh.

"Who gave you permission to step foot in here?"

"Who gave you the guts to smash through my door?!"

Aunt Brenda rolled her eyes.

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"We are your elders! What’s wrong with letting us stay here for a few days?"

"Besides, what does a single girl like you need with such a massive penthouse anyway?"

"You're going to get married off eventually, and this place will just belong to another family. You might as well let Sarah have it first!"

Sarah chimed in, feeding the flames.

"Exactly, Chloe! You are being so ridiculously selfish."

"I'm your first cousin! Are you seriously going to ruin our family harmony over an apartment?"

"Do you have zero family loyalty?!"

Looking at her hypocritical face, I wanted nothing more than to slap it clean off.

"Family loyalty?"

"You brought thugs to break my locks, trashed my home, and now you want to lecture me on family loyalty?"

I pointed at the ruined Persian rug on the floor.

"Do you have any idea how much that rug costs? Five hundred thousand dollars!"

I pointed at the antique vase stuffed with fake plastic flowers.

"That is a museum-grade antique worth over two million dollars!"

"Right now, you haven't just committed criminal trespassing—you’ve caused massive, felony-level property destruction!"

"You couldn't pay this off in ten lifetimes!"

Hearing those numbers, the room fell silent for a fraction of a second before erupting into roaring laughter.

Kevin laughed so hard he dropped his cigarette.

"Hahaha! Chloe, have you completely lost your mind over money?"

"Five hundred grand for a piece of cloth? Two million for an old bottle?"

"Do you seriously think I'm some backwoods hillbilly who hasn't seen the world?"

"Let me tell you, I work at a major corporate firm—I see luxury goods every day! Everything in this dump put together isn't worth a thousand bucks!"

Aunt Brenda sneered right along with him.

"Oh, Chloe, at least rehearse your lies before you tell them!"

"With your pathetic little salary, you think you can afford luxury like that?"

"Don't act like we don't know the truth! Your boss didn't want this place anymore and let you crash here!"

"Who are you trying to intimidate with your fake tough act?"

Sarah covered her mouth, giggling maliciously.

"Chloe, if you're really hurting for cash, just say so. We can toss you an extra twenty bucks for rent."

"No need to cook up insane lies to extort us. You know extortion is illegal, right?"

Looking at their blinding stupidity, I lost my last shred of patience.

Trying to reason with these people was a waste of breath.

I pulled out my phone and dialed 911 directly.

"Hello, I need to report a crime."

"Multiple intruders used brute force to break into my private luxury penthouse. They've unlawfully occupied the residence and maliciously destroyed millions of dollars worth of property."

"The address is..."

Seeing me actually call the police, their smirks finally vanished.

Aunt Brenda shot up from the sofa, pointing a venomous finger straight at my nose.

"Chloe! You ungrateful little snake!"

"How dare you call the cops on your own aunt?!"

"I’ll rip your mouth off!"

Screaming like a banshee, she lunged right at me with her claws out.