“Work quickly,” my father ordered in a sharp voice, “we need to clear out the bedrooms first and remove all the clothes and personal papers.”
“The real estate photographer will be arriving tomorrow morning, and I want this place looking like a model home,” he added.
My mother went straight to my grandfather’s private study, while Chloe ran toward my bedroom with a predatory look in her eyes.
I watched in horror as Chloe flung open my closet doors and began pulling out my dresses as if they were nothing more than worthless rags.
She paused to hold a silk evening gown against her body and admired her reflection in my full-length mirror.
“Oh, this color actually suits me much better than it ever suited Elara,” she said with a cruel, high-pitched laugh.
Maya did not join in the laughter; she remained standing by the front door, looking pale and deeply troubled by the situation.
I picked up the hotel phone and dialed the police, providing the dispatcher with my existing case report number.
“The intruders are already inside the premises,” I said with a voice that was surprisingly steady, “they are looting my home right now.”
The emergency operator instructed me to stay exactly where I was and warned me not to approach the building for my own safety.
On the screen, I saw my mother pick up a framed photograph from the bookshelf that showed me and my grandfather on my graduation day.
She stared at it for a few seconds with a grimace, then carelessly tossed it into a large cardboard box filled with junk.
