Accepting my mother’s suggestion, I left the living room with my father, my mother, and Kristen, and we moved into the wide hallway.

The moment we stepped into the silent corridor, something happened.

A certain smell tickled my nose.

Completely different from the aromas of food and wine drifting from the living room.

It was that cheap, cloyingly sweet perfume Kristen always wore.

This wasn’t the scent of someone merely standing beside me.

It was heavier, ingrained, like it was seeping out from deeper inside the house, from the residential area upstairs.

A bad feeling shot through me, and I sprinted up the stairs to the second floor.

“Hey, Denise, where do you think you’re going?”

My mother shouted after me.

Ignoring her, I flung open the door to the guest suite.

The sight inside made me catch my breath.

In what should have been a pristine guest room, one I hadn’t invited anyone to use yet, several gaudy familiar suitcases were scattered across the floor.

From the closet spilled out dresses in unmistakably Kristen’s terrible taste.

Her handbag was tossed onto the bed, and cosmetics were strewn messily across the dresser.

“What is this supposed to mean?”

Kristen, who had followed me upstairs, leaned against the door frame and smiled slightly.

Something glinted in her palm.

It was a duplicate of the high-security smart key I had specially commissioned when designing this house.

Something no ordinary locksmith should have been able to copy.

“Surprised?” she said smugly. “Dad helped me make it while you were away on a business trip to San Francisco. Leaving one of your keys at Mom and Dad’s place was your fatal mistake. I figured it was basically a sign saying family can use it freely, so I happily took you up on it.”

She showed no shame at all.

If anything, she puffed up as if playing the role of the clever little sister.

My father and mother caught up moments later, making no attempt to hide anything.

“Denise, don’t make such a scary face,” my father said casually as he walked past me and sat down on the luxurious leather sofa in the guest room. “It’s basic risk management for parents to have a spare key to their daughter’s house. What if you collapsed? What if there was a fire? We’re always worried about you.”

“Worried?” I sneered. “That’s hard to believe. Bringing in luggage without my permission and occupying my private space. Is that what you call risk management?”

I threw open the closet door.

Where my business suits should have been were Kristen’s flashy party dresses and piles of shoes I didn’t even know the origin of.

“This is practically theft. Kristen, pack your things and leave immediately.”

“Otherwise, otherwise what?” Kristen shrieked. “You’re always like this, Denise. Acting like you’re the only special one. You think you built your company all by yourself? Dad raised you strictly when you were little, didn’t he? Mom cooked healthy meals to support you, didn’t she? And this is how you repay them, refusing to lend one room. As a human being, you’re beyond saving.”

My mother wrapped an arm around Kristen’s shoulders and looked at me with the eyes of someone watching a tragic heroine.

“Denise, you see, Kristen is preparing to launch a new apparel brand using this house as her base. Having an address in such an upscale neighborhood will earn her credibility with business partners. Do you really have the right to crush your sister’s dream?”

Every single one of them genuinely believed my house was shared family property.

In their minds, my success equaled the family’s collective victory, an utterly misplaced logic.

My anger faded, replaced by a certain clarity.

Words would never reach these people.

Neither logic nor emotion would survive their filter of greed.

They would all be twisted into the selfish refusal of an ungrateful daughter.

“Fine,” I said quietly. “Didn’t you say you called a lawyer, Dad? Then let’s discuss this thoroughly with a third party present.”

“You should have said that from the start,” my father replied, nodding in satisfaction. “I’ve already called my friend, attorney Morris. He specializes in real estate disputes. He’ll give you a proper lecture on how legally meaningless your possessiveness really is.”

I took out my phone and checked the screen.

Dozens of notifications stared back at me.

Alerts from the hidden cameras installed throughout the house going back several days.

Yes, I already knew.

While I was away on business, they had entered my house repeatedly, lounged on my bed, and helped themselves to expensive vintage bottles from my wine cellar.

The reason I had deliberately invited the entire family to this housewarming party was for this very moment.

“Hey, Kristen, that spare key you found at Mom and Dad’s, did you really think I’d simply forgotten it there by accident?”

At my cold question, Kristen’s triumphant smile froze instantly.

“What are you talking about? It’s your fault for leaving it there.”

“No, it was bait. I knew from the beginning that you’d copy it and start invading my house while I was away. Anticipating risks several moves ahead and acting first. That’s what I do best as a business owner. Your shallow greed was easier to read than a bug-ridden program.”