My father didn’t sit down.

He placed his briefcase on the dining table and looked first at Margaret, then at Daniel.

—Where is the sale contract?

Margaret wiped her tears.

—Why should I show you anything? This is a Lewis family matter.

My mother entered behind him.

She heard those words.

Then she looked around the house she and my father had bought for me years earlier.

—No —she said quietly—. This became our matter the moment you tried to sell our daughter’s property.

Daniel stepped forward.

—Mom and Dad, please. We can solve this peacefully.

My father turned toward him.

—Don’t call me Dad right now.

Daniel froze.

I had never heard my father speak to him that way.

Neither had Daniel.

The police officers remained near the entrance while my lawyer joined us by video call.

I placed my phone against a vase so everyone could hear him.

—Emma, first question. Has anyone shown you an original purchase agreement bearing your signature?

—No.

—Have you signed a power of attorney authorizing Daniel or Margaret to dispose of the property?

—Never.

—Then nobody here should touch, destroy, or alter any document connected to this attempted transaction.

Margaret suddenly looked toward the hallway.

It lasted barely a second.

But my mother noticed.

So did I.

—What’s in the bedroom? —I asked.

—Nothing.

I walked toward it.

Margaret rushed to block me.

—You can’t just search through my belongings!

I stared at her.

—Your belongings?

I pointed around us.

—You’re standing inside my house.

The officer stepped between us.

Margaret finally moved aside.

Inside the bedroom, my things had been pushed into cardboard boxes.

My clothes.

Books.

Photographs.

Even the jewelry box my grandmother had given me.

And inside the wardrobe were three large suitcases belonging to Margaret.

She hadn’t temporarily occupied my house.

She had moved in.

Then my father saw a brown folder on the dresser.

Across the front were the words:

PROPERTY TRANSFER AGREEMENT.

I opened it.

The first page listed the sale price.

6.8 million yuan.

The buyer was a man named Victor Han.

The seller was listed as:

Emma Carter.

At the bottom was my signature.

Except it wasn’t mine.

My mother covered her mouth.

Daniel whispered:

—Mom…

Margaret said nothing.

I photographed every page.

Then I reached the final section.

A copy of my identification was attached.

My passport number.

My date of birth.

Even an old signature sample.

I slowly looked at Daniel.

There was only one person in that room who had access to all three.

—Where did your mother get copies of my documents?

Daniel’s face changed.

—Emma—

—Answer me.

—She asked me for them.

The room became silent.

My father stepped toward him.

—And you gave them to her?

Daniel immediately raised his hands.

—I didn’t know what she intended to do.

—Why did she ask?

He hesitated.

That hesitation destroyed the last excuse he had.

—She said she needed them to ask an agent about whether married couples could transfer property between family members.

I stared at him.

—And you didn’t think to ask me?

—It didn’t seem important.

I laughed once.

—My passport, identification and property information didn’t seem important?

Margaret suddenly shouted:

—Stop interrogating my son! I handled everything!

I turned toward her.

—Then tell us who forged my signature.

She stopped.

Nobody spoke.

Finally she whispered:

—The agent said it was only preliminary paperwork.

My lawyer’s voice came through the phone.

—What is the agent’s name?

Margaret refused to answer.

My father picked up the contract.

—Then we’ll obtain it another way.

That was when someone knocked.

Everyone turned.

One officer opened the door.

A nervous-looking man in a gray suit stood outside.

Behind him was another man, perhaps in his fifties.

The first introduced himself.

—I’m Jason Cole from Horizon Realty.

Margaret went completely pale.

The second man stepped forward.

—Victor Han. I believe I purchased this property.

I almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Victor looked at me.

—You’re Emma Carter?

—Yes.

His face changed immediately.

—Then who was the woman I met during the signing?

I slowly turned toward Margaret.

She looked at the floor.

My mother whispered:

—What did you do?

Victor pulled out his phone.

—I met a woman claiming to be Emma Carter.

He opened a photograph.

My breath stopped.

The woman in the picture wasn’t Margaret.

She was younger.

Maybe thirty.

She sat beside Jason at a conference table, holding my identification.

Daniel made a strange sound.

—That’s impossible.

I looked at him.

—You know her?

He didn’t answer.

Victor enlarged the photograph.

Daniel stepped backward.

My father noticed.

—Who is she?

Daniel shook his head.

—Nobody.

I walked toward him.

—Daniel.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

So Margaret answered.

—She’s his cousin.

The cousin.

The same cousin whose apartment supposedly needed a down payment.

Suddenly everything connected.

The rushed sale.

The ridiculously low price.

The five-hundred-thousand deposit.

My documents.

The forged signature.

This wasn’t Margaret impulsively helping family.

They had planned it.

My lawyer spoke sharply through the phone.

—Emma, do not confront anyone further. Preserve the evidence.

But Daniel was already panicking.

—It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

I looked at him.

—What wasn’t?

—The sale wasn’t supposed to finish before you returned.

My chest tightened.

Even Margaret stared at him.

Daniel realized what he had admitted.

Too late.

My father spoke quietly.

—So you knew.

—No. I mean—

—You knew.

Daniel turned toward me.

—Emma, listen. Mom said we’d sell this place, buy another one under both our names, and use the difference temporarily.

—Temporarily?

I almost couldn’t believe him.

—You planned to take my house, replace it with property you partly owned, and distribute my money to your relatives?

—When you say it like that—

—There is no other way to say it.

My mother took my hand.

Daniel looked desperate now.

—We’re married. I thought eventually everything would belong to both of us anyway.

And finally I understood.

This wasn’t about one greedy mother-in-law.

Margaret had simply said aloud what Daniel had believed quietly for three years.

That marrying me gave him a claim over everything I owned.

I removed my wedding ring.

Daniel stared at it.

—Emma, don’t.

I placed it beside the fraudulent contract.

—You already chose.

Margaret began crying again.

—You’re destroying this family over money!

My mother finally turned on her.

—No.

Her voice was calm.

—Your family tried to steal from my daughter and expected marriage to make it legal.

Victor interrupted.

—There’s something else you need to know.

Everyone looked at him.

He opened another document on his phone.

—The five hundred thousand wasn’t the only money transferred.

Margaret stopped crying.

Victor continued:

—Three days ago, I paid another two million as the second installment.

I stared at Margaret.

—Where is it?

She looked terrified.

—What two million?

Victor frowned.

—I transferred it to the account specified in the supplemental agreement.

Jason, the agent, immediately shook his head.

—I never prepared a supplemental agreement.

Victor looked confused.

He opened the file.

My lawyer asked him to read the beneficiary name.

Victor enlarged the page.

Then his eyes moved toward Daniel.

—Daniel Lewis.

Nobody moved.

Margaret stared at her son.

—Daniel?

His face had gone gray.

I looked at him.

—You received two million?

—Emma, I can explain.

There it was again.

The sentence people used when the truth had finally caught them.

My father took out his phone.

—Don’t explain it to us. Explain it to the investigators.

Daniel suddenly grabbed his jacket.

The officer blocked the doorway.

—Sir, remain here.

Daniel stopped.

His phone slipped from his hand and landed on the floor.

The screen lit up.

A message appeared.

From someone saved as “Rachel.”

“Did Emma find out about the account? Call me before you tell your mother anything.”

Margaret saw it.

Her expression changed from fear to confusion.

—Who is Rachel?

Daniel didn’t answer.

I bent down and picked up the phone.

The lock screen showed the message clearly.

Then another arrived.

“I already booked our flights. If this goes wrong, we leave tonight.”

I looked at Daniel.

Margaret looked at Daniel.

Even she suddenly understood that she had not been the mastermind.

She had been useful.

I placed his phone on the table.

—So while your mother thought she was stealing my house for the family…

I looked directly into his eyes.

—You were stealing the money from her too.

Daniel’s lips parted.

But before he could answer, Margaret whispered something that made the entire room go silent.

—Rachel isn’t his cousin.

She stared at her son as if seeing him for the first time.

—She’s the woman Daniel was supposed to marry before he met you.

And suddenly, losing my house was no longer the worst betrayal waiting for me.