Chapter1
My sister's future marital home was a dilapidated century-old house. As a licensed general contractor, I led my crew through a six-month gut rehab, transforming it into a luxury estate.
During her housewarming party, a water pipe burst in the basement. I rushed down for an emergency repair and gashed my palm on a rusty nail. I sent my sister a quick text letting her know, then headed up to her room to grab a Band-Aid.
The moment I stepped out of the room, my sister jabbed a finger at my nose and shrieked.
"Are you that desperate for cash? You're actually stealing from your own sister!"
I held out my bleeding palm, explaining that I had just gone in for a Band-Aid and had texted her about it beforehand.
She slapped my hand away.
"Save the injury excuse! This isn't the first time you've stolen my stuff for quick cash!"
"For Mom and Dad's sake, I won't call the cops. But I want my twenty thousand dollars back—every single cent!"
Drops of blood soaked into the plush carpet, and a sudden chill settled in my chest.
Over the past six months, I had turned down all my other bids, slept on bare concrete floors to meet the deadline, and fronted over a hundred thousand dollars of my own money for the family. I hadn't asked for a dime in labor, yet now I was being branded a thief.
I looked to our mother, but she just said, "It's not your first time stealing. Your sister has a soft heart, which is why she let it slide before. Making you pay it back this time is perfectly fair."
My father let out a cold snort.
"When we first asked you to help your sister, you made every excuse in the book. Now that she's marrying into money, you're green with envy and getting sticky fingers. Do you have no conscience at all?"
Watching the three of them so righteously twist the truth, I smiled.
They thought my hands were dirty.
Then this house I had built with my own two hands—I would tear it right back from them.
My sister shoved her Zelle QR code right up to my nose.
"What are you waiting for? Don't think I'll cover for you just because we're blood. Stealing is a crime. Transfer the twenty grand right now."
A room full of guests holding champagne flutes turned our way.
My face burned. I pulled up my text thread with her.
"I cut my hand on a nail. I went to your room to get a Band-Aid, and I told you before I went in. Look for yourself if you don't believe me."
She didn't even glance at it. Swiping her hand, she knocked the phone from my grasp. It smashed against the marble floor, the screen instantly going black.
I instinctively patted the side pocket of my cargo pants, where I kept an old burner phone filled with construction voice memos.
"Stop using your cut as a shield! You've been skimming off the top since day one. You used me, your own sister, to hyper-inflate material costs and pocket kickbacks."
"I let it go once or twice, but you know exactly how much blood you've sucked from me over the past six months!"
The guests' gazes instantly shifted, filling with contempt and disgust.
The Band-Aid I had just applied was already soaked through, dropping blood bead by bead onto her thirty-thousand-dollar Persian rug.
Six months ago, my sister had come to me crying, saying her Wall Street fiancé, Liam, was coming to see the house and she couldn't bear the embarrassment of the rundown property.
I dropped all my commercial bids and buried myself and my crew in this house. I was up at four in the morning and didn't knock off until midnight. I inhaled fiberglass insulation for two straight weeks, coughing so hard I couldn't sleep at night.
When the renovation funds from our parents kept getting delayed, I maxed out my own credit cards, eventually floating over a hundred grand out of pocket.
I did it all because she was my sister.
Yet every single cent I had poured into this project was twisted into theft by her own lips.
My mother lunged forward, ripped open my tool pouch, and yanked out my wallet.
Inside, there was exactly thirty-seven dollars.
"She can take this as a down payment. If you can't produce the rest right now, you'll write her a promissory note."
"Your sister is being incredibly generous. She hasn't breathed a word of your stealing to anyone outside. Show some gratitude."
I let out a bitter laugh and snatched my wallet back.
"You claim I stole the money—where's your proof? Spreading rumors in front of over a hundred people without evidence is called defamation. I could sue you into bankruptcy for this!"
Without a second word, my father backhanded me, sending me collapsing onto the carpet.
"With all these eyes on you, you think you're being framed?"
"Making you pay it back is for your own good! Do you want a criminal record? Do you want to rot in a cell and lose your precious contractor's license?"
Pushing myself up from the rug, I spoke with a voice like ice.
"Then call the police! Let's settle the accounts right here in front of the cops! Let's see who really owes who!"
I caught my parents exchanging a rapid, panicked glance.
My sister's face changed too. She immediately hooked her arm through Liam's, adopting a tone of wounded mercy.
"We're family. There's no need to make this so ugly. Today is my housewarming, and I don't want the police tracking dirt onto my rugs."
"Because you're my own flesh and blood, just write a confession and sign it. You can pay the money back in installments, and I'll let the whole thing slide."
"And when you can't find work later, I'll even ask Liam to refer a few clients your way."
She made it sound exactly as if I had actually stolen the money, as if I had spent the last six months freeloading off her goodwill.
My father grabbed a notepad from the bar and briskly scribbled:
I, Nora, confess to having stolen $20,000 in cash from my sister Chloe today, and I promise to repay the full amount within three days.
I spat out a mouthful of blood and turned to leave. They didn't value my craftsmanship, but there were plenty of people out in the real world lining up to hire me.
The moment I took a step, my mother blocked the front door. My father grabbed me from behind, twisting my arm and forcing a fountain pen into my bleeding palm.
"If you don't sign this today, we're cutting you off completely!" My father's eyes were practically feral. "Don't force me to pretend I never had you as a daughter!"
