“Effective immediately. Tenants must vacate within 7 days.”

Her eyes shot up to mine.

“Lydia, what kind of sick joke is this?”

“Not a joke,” I replied, folding my arms. “That duplex is under my company’s property management, and when someone tries to move in without a lease, without permission, without respect,” I let each word land like a stone. “They get treated like every other trespasser.”

My mother slammed her palm on the table.

“How dare you talk to your family like this? We raised you. We fed you. We gave you everything.”

I cut her off, my voice sharper than I’d ever allowed it to be in their presence.

“You gave me nothing but reminders that I wasn’t good enough. While Nathan got everything handed to him, cars, college, tuition, support, I was left to figure life out on my own.”

The words flowed now. Years of silent suffering, finally finding voice.

“Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep, thinking I was worthless? How many jobs I worked? How many meals I skipped just to afford that duplex you’re all so eager to snatch away?”

I leaned forward.

“And now you want me to roll over and let you take it? Not anymore.”

The table went quiet.

My father narrowed his eyes, a vein pulsing at his temple.

“So what? You think you’re better than us now? Just because you scammed your way into some online business?”

I laughed, the sound brittle and unfamiliar in the formal dining room.

“Scam? Dad, I built a real company. I’ve got contracts, employees, investors. While you were busy mocking me, I was signing deals that would buy this entire neighborhood if I wanted.”

Victoria shook her head, voice trembling.

“This can’t be real. You can’t have this much power. You’ve always been the pathetic one.”

I leaned forward, lowering my voice, so every word struck with precision.

“The pathetic one just put an eviction notice in your hands. The pathetic one could turn off the lights in that duplex with a single phone call. The pathetic one owns more square footage in this city than you’ve ever stepped in.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe it’s time you stop underestimating me.”

Nathan’s face flushed crimson, veins bulging at his neck as he slammed the papers back onto the table.

“This isn’t over, Lydia. You can’t humiliate us like this.”

I tilted my head, the smallest smile playing at the corners of my mouth.

“Oh, Nathan, I haven’t even started humiliating you yet.”

With deliberate slowness, I reached into my bag and pulled out one more document.

This one was thicker, bound with goldstamped pages that caught the light and made their eyes widen before they even knew what it contained.

The second I laid the gold stamped folder on the table, the air grew heavy with anticipation.

My father squinted suspiciously.

My mother clutched at her pearls.

Victoria actually leaned forward like a vulture circling prey.

Nathan ripped it open, hands shaking as he flipped through the pages, desperate to prove I was bluffing.

But with each page turned, his expression crumbled further until finally his voice emerged, barely audible.