My sister walked into the apartment I managed and tossed a rent-increase letter onto my kitchen table, tripling the price from $2,350 to $7,100.
My parents called it fair—but they didn’t know that beneath my fingernails was still a faint stain of ink from the final initials I’d put on the pages my grandmother left me.
The entire building was mine.
And I’d been preparing for this moment in silence for three years.
My name is Claire Maddox, and I’ve spent the last six years managing Maple Glenn Apartments, a modest but well-kept building in the heart of Portland. At thirty-four, I wasn’t exactly where I thought I’d be in life, but I’d found purpose here—keeping things running smoothly, making sure our elderly residents had working heaters in winter, making sure the young families could raise their kids in a safe, clean place without constantly looking over their shoulders.
The morning Sabrina showed up changed everything.
I was in my ground-floor office reviewing maintenance requests when I heard the distinctive click of her designer heels on the lobby’s worn marble.
My older sister had that effect. Her presence announced itself before she even entered a room.
Through my office window, I watched her stride past Mrs. Rodriguez and her granddaughter without a glance.
Her tailored suit was as sharp as her ambition.
“Claire,” she said, not bothering to knock as she pushed into my office, “we need to talk.”
Sabrina had always been the golden child—Yale Law, partnership track at thirty-two, a brownstone in the nice part of town. And me? Community college, a property-management certificate, and a one-bedroom in the building I managed.
I’d never minded the comparison until today.
She placed a manila envelope on my desk with the kind of practiced precision she probably used in courtrooms.
“The family had a meeting last weekend about Maple Glenn.”
“What meeting?” I set down my coffee mug, noting the way she said the family as if I wasn’t part of it.
“I wasn’t invited to any meeting.”
“It was an investor discussion.” She adjusted her pearl necklace—the one Grandma Edith had given her for law school graduation. “Mom, Dad, myself, and Uncle Richard… we’ve been reviewing the building’s financials.”
My stomach tightened.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
TAP → NEXT PAGE → 👇
