Chapter 1 - The Sublet Scheme
The glow of my phone screen lit up the polished Italian marble beneath my fingers.
My real estate colleague, Marcus, had attached three separate links to local rental classifieds, complete with interior photos of my own home taken from the architect’s portfolio.
Each listing advertised a "luxury executive master suite in North Atlanta" available for twelve hundred dollars a month, signed off with Derek’s personal cell number.
My mother, Eleanor, adjusted her silk scarf, completely unaware that her golden boy's criminal greed was glowing in the palm of my hand.
"Well, Daniel," Eleanor continued, waving an impatient hand toward the grand spiral staircase in the foyer.
"Since you have two little girls, they can easily share the smaller bedroom on the left, which frees up the east wing for Derek, his wife, and their twin boys."
Daniel slowly set down a gallon of milk, his tall frame straightening as a dangerous quiet washed over him.
"Eleanor, let me ensure I understand your premise," Daniel said, his voice deceptively gentle.
"You walked into my private residence after a decade of complete absence, discovered you have two granddaughters you never bothered to meet, and your immediate reaction is to reassign their bedrooms?"
Eleanor frowned, clearly unaccustomed to anyone challenging her matriarchal authority.
"Derek is her brother! Blood is thicker than water, young man, and Evelyn knows her duty to this family."
"I have no duty to a thief who stole sixty-four thousand dollars of my college tuition, Mom," I said, stepping between her and my daughters.
"And Derek isn't just planning to move his family in here on Friday, is he?"
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I turned my phone around, thrusting the screen directly before her eyes so she could read the rental listings.
"Your precious son has already taken deposits from three strangers to sublet bedrooms inside a house he has never set foot in."
