My parents handed my sister $55 million in front of 200 guests, then took my car keys and locked my cards. I walked out into the freezing night with one suitcase and nowhere to go.

But that wasn’t the end of my story.

The iron gate felt colder than it should have on Christmas Eve. I stood there in the freezing rain, my fingers wrapped around the bars like a child staring into a shop window. Only I wasn’t looking at something beautiful. I was looking at the house that was supposed to be home, watching warm golden light pour from the windows of the Greenwich estate while my breath turned white in the December air.

My hand reached toward the handle of my Subaru. It was ten years old, dented on the passenger side from the time I clipped a mailbox during a snowstorm.

“But I paid for it,” I whispered, grabbing for the metal. “Every payment. For five years.”

Preston’s hand shot through the gate and snatched the keys before I could close my fingers around them.

“It was paid through the corporate leasing structure with pre-tax bonuses,” he said flatly, using the same voice he reserved for firing employees. “Technically, you transferred the title to the holding company three years ago for tax purposes. Remember? You don’t work for us anymore. That means no more benefits.”

Then he turned around and walked away, the keys jingling in his hand like loose coins. The sound faded as he climbed the front steps, leaving me standing there with my suitcase, watching him disappear without even looking back.

I knew I should move.

But some foolish part of me was still waiting for him to return.

An hour earlier, I had walked through those gates believing I would sleep in my old room that night. I thought maybe Christmas morning could still feel normal—or at least familiar. Three days before the holiday, I had lost my PR job when my company merged and my entire department was eliminated. My severance might have covered a few months of rent if I was careful, but I needed time to figure out what came next.

I thought my family would give me that time.

Instead, I walked straight into Kinsley’s engagement party.

Crystal chandeliers.