I refused when my stepmother ordered me to change my brother’s baby. Her hand cracked across my face; then my laptop shattered on the floor. She flung the filthy diaper at me and hissed, “You’re useless. Get out of my house.” I grabbed my bag, reached the door, then stopped. “By midnight, this house won’t be yours anymore.” Her face drained white—because she finally remembered what was hidden inside my broken laptop.

Back inside the living room of Vance Manor, the atmosphere had shifted from toxic arrogance to frantic, unadulterated terror.

Marlene stood staring at the front door, her chest heaving beneath her silk robe.

"What did she mean?" Jason asked, rising from his armchair, his phone forgotten on the table. His mother’s sudden change in demeanor had rattled him. "Mom, what was she talking about? What happens at midnight?"

"Shut up, Jason!" Marlene shrieked, her voice cracking with hysteria.

She dropped to her knees beside the marble hearth, her manicured nails digging into the sharp debris of my smashed laptop. She grabbed the cracked plastic casing, pulling out the shattered circuit board and the mangled screen like a madwoman searching for gold in a pile of ash.

"Where is it?!" she muttered to herself, her eyes wide and bloodshot. "Where is the flash drive?! She had a silver drive! I saw her put it in!"

"Mom, calm down!" Jason said, grabbing her by her shoulders. "It's just Clara! She’s bluffing! She doesn't have anything! Dad left you the house! We signed the probate papers five years ago!"

"You stupid, ignorant boy!" Marlene screamed, slapping Jason’s hands away. "You think your father was stupid?! You think he didn't know I was transferring funds out of his construction accounts?!"

Jason blinked, stepping back in shock. "What?"

"The will we filed in probate was a draft!" Marlene confessed, her voice dropping to a harsh, panic-stricken whisper as she looked around the empty living room as if my father's ghost were watching her from the shadows. "The lawyer told me five years ago that Richard had created a primary irrevocable asset trust through a firm in Delaware! I thought... I thought if I kept Clara broke, if I kept her isolated, she would never find the filing key!"

"Wait," Jason said, his face turning pale. "If the primary trust unlocks tonight... what happens to our deeds? What happens to my allowance?"

"We get evicted!" Marlene shrieked, standing up and throwing the broken pieces of plastic against the wall. "The house, the accounts, the property in Florida—everything reverts to her! And if she files the forensic audits she's been building... we go to prison, Jason! Both of us!"

Jason’s jaw dropped. "Prison?! I didn't do anything!"

"You signed your father's signature on three wire transfer authorizations in 2021!" Marlene snapped, her eyes wild with panic. "Do you think the federal prosecutors will care that I told you to do it?!"

Upstairs, the door to the master bedroom opened, and Jason’s wife, Chloe, stepped out onto the balcony, rubbing her eyes in frustration. "What is all the screaming down there? The baby is finally sleeping!"

"Get down here, Chloe!" Marlene shouted up at her, her voice trembling violently. "Pack your bags! Search every drawer in Clara’s room! Find every paper, every drive, every flash card she owns! NOW!"

The grandfather clock in the corner chimed loudly.