I inherited a cabin while my sister got a Nashville penthouse. When she mocked me—”Fits you perfectly, you stinking woman!”—and told me to stay away, I decided to spend the night at the cabin.

And when I got there, I froze at what I saw.

The church smelled of old pews and far too much funeral spray. My father’s service had dragged on much longer than anyone expected, and by the time we got back to my mother’s house in Little Rock, we were all exhausted.

Relatives I hadn’t seen in years were still hanging around, pretending they cared. They picked at casseroles that had already been reheated three times while they whispered about the estate.

I sat in a corner chair, still in my dress uniform. I wasn’t trying to show off—I’d flown straight from Fort Benning and simply hadn’t had a spare second to change.

My younger sister, Skylar, looked like she’d just won a beauty pageant. She spent the afternoon circling the room, whispering into people’s ears to make sure they knew she was the one handling the arrangements.

She wore that same smug expression she’d used since we were kids. It was a look that told everyone she believed the world owed her whatever she wanted.

I did my best to ignore her until the family attorney finally arrived. Marcus Finch had been an old friend of my father’s, and he walked in carrying a heavy leather briefcase.

Everyone gathered around the large dining table as the air grew heavier than it had been at the funeral. This wasn’t about mourning a man anymore. It was about money and property.

Marcus opened his folder while Skylar practically bounced in her seat like a child waiting for a birthday gift. Our mother, Jeanette, sat stiff as a board, her hands folded so tightly her knuckles went white.

“To my daughter Skylar, I leave the luxury penthouse in Nashville and a minority share in Summit Infrastructure,” Marcus read. Skylar nodded slowly, as if this were merely confirmation of what she already deserved.

That Nashville property was a high-rise condo with a river view worth millions of dollars. It was exactly the kind of place Skylar would use for photos until her followers grew tired of the view.