Chapter 1: Ten Minutes
“Two thousand dollars a month—or get out!””
The suitcase hit the stone porch hard enough to make the wheels snap sideways.
Nia froze.
For one second, she couldn't move. She stood in the bright foyer of the house she'd grown up in, nineteen years old, burgundy hoodie pulled tight around her shoulders, her braids falling over her trembling face.
Then Vanessa pointed toward the porch.
“You heard me,” Vanessa said.
“Ten minutes.””
Nia looked at the suitcase lying open on its side. A sweatshirt had spilled onto the stone.
“Vanessa, what are you doing?”” Nia whispered.
Vanessa stepped forward, her beige dress perfectly pressed, her gold earrings catching the afternoon light.
“I’m giving you a choice,” she said.
“You can start acting like an adult and pay your share, or you can leave.””
“This is my home.””
Vanessa laughed once.
It wasn't a warm laugh.
“Your home?””
Nia swallowed.
“My mom bought this house.””
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“Your mother is gone.””
The words landed harder than the suitcase.
Nia's eyes filled.
“Don't talk about her like that.””
“I’ll talk about whatever I want in my house,” Vanessa snapped.
Nia bent down and grabbed the suitcase handle.
Vanessa kicked the fallen sweatshirt farther onto the porch.
“Ten minutes,” she repeated.
Nia stared at her.
“You never said anything about rent before.””
“Because I was giving you time to grow up.””
“I’m in college.””
“And college isn't free.””
“My scholarship covers tuition.””
“Then you can afford rent.””
Nia's fingers tightened around the suitcase handle.
“Two thousand dollars?””
“Yes.””
“Every month?””
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Did I stutter?””
Nia looked past her.
“Where's Dad?””
Vanessa's eyes flickered for half a second.
Then she smiled.
“Working.””
“He said he'd be home this afternoon.””
“He changed his plans.””
Nia reached for her phone.
Vanessa immediately stepped between her and the hallway.
“Don't call him.””
“Why?””
“Because I said so.””
Nia's breathing became shallow.
That was when she noticed something strange.
Vanessa wasn't angry anymore.
She looked nervous.
Not at Nia.
At the driveway.
Nia slowly turned her head.
A black sedan was coming through the gates.
Her father's car.
“Dad?””
Vanessa's face changed.
“Nia, pick up your suitcase.””
The front door was still open.
The sunlight stretched across the polished floor behind Vanessa.
The sedan stopped.
The driver's door opened.
Arthur stepped out.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark business suit. His expression was calm, almost unreadable.
But he wasn't alone.
He carried a thick brown legal folder under one arm.
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Arthur…”
He didn't answer.
He walked toward the house.
Nia looked from him to Vanessa.
“Dad, she just threw my suitcase outside.””
Arthur stopped at the threshold.
His eyes moved to the suitcase.
Then to Nia's wet cheeks.
Then to Vanessa.
“What happened?””
Vanessa straightened.
“She’s exaggerating.””
“I’m not,” Nia said.
Vanessa cut her a look.
“Nia.””
Arthur stepped inside.
“Why is she outside?””
“She refuses to pay rent,” Vanessa said.
Arthur's eyebrows lifted.
“Rent?””
“She’s nineteen. She needs to learn responsibility.””
Arthur looked at Nia.
“Did you agree to pay rent?””
“No.””
“How much?””
Nia hesitated.
“Two thousand.””
Arthur slowly turned toward Vanessa.
The silence was so complete that Nia could hear the air conditioner humming above them.
Arthur's voice was quiet.
“Why is she paying rent in her own house?””
Vanessa went still.
Nia stared at her father.
Her father opened the legal folder.
“Arthur,” Vanessa said carefully, “this isn't what you think.””
He pulled out a document.
“No?””
He placed it on the foyer table.
Nia took one step forward.
“What is that?””
Arthur looked at her.
“Something I should have shown you a long time ago.””
Vanessa's face had gone pale.
Arthur unfolded the paper.
At the top was an attorney's letterhead.
Below it was the official property deed.
Nia's eyes moved down the page.
Her mother's name appeared first.
Then the transfer information.
Then the legal owner.
Nia stopped breathing.
Her own name was printed there.
Arthur tapped it with one finger.
“This house belongs to you.””
Vanessa took a step backward.
“No.””
Nia looked at her father.
“What?””
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“Your mother made arrangements before she died.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“That document doesn't mean—”
Arthur opened another page.
“And this is the document you signed last month.””
He turned it around.
Nia saw the signature.
Vanessa's signature.
Her heart began pounding.
Arthur looked directly at his wife.
“You already tried to transfer it?””
Vanessa's eyes darted toward her handbag.
Nia noticed.
A corner of a sealed envelope was sticking out.
And Vanessa noticed Nia noticing it.
“Don't touch that,” Vanessa said.
Nia slowly reached toward the bag.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Nia—”
Arthur's voice cut through the foyer.
“Let her.””
Nia's fingers closed around the sealed envelope.
But before she could pull it free, she saw the name handwritten across the front.
Her mother's name.
And beneath it, in smaller letters:
*For Nia. Open only after Arthur tells you the truth.*
Nia looked up.
“Dad… what truth?””
Arthur's face changed.
He looked at the envelope.
May you like
Then at Vanessa.
And for the first time since he walked through the door, he looked afraid.
