Chapter 3

Katherine "Kate" Powell POV:

My Jeep rolled to a stop in front of the grand iron gates of the Hayes mansion in Manhattan. Looking up at the massive white stone villa through the windshield, my chest felt tight and airless. This place, which I had spent three years trying to turn into a warm home, now felt like a cold, suffocating prison.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, stepped out of the car, and carefully cradled both flag draped urns against my chest. I only came back to pack my personal belongings and leave. I didn't care about the people inside anymore. They were dead to me.

Walking up the grand stone steps to the heavy carved front door, I pressed my thumb against the smart lock. The latch clicked open softly, allowing me to step inside without making a sound.

Loud, mocking laughter drifted from the living room before I even stepped out of the entryway. It was Carol and my sister-in-law, Jessica Hayes, sipping tea and gossiping loudly.

"Emerson, I am so glad you finally realized who the real prize is," Jessica said, her voice dripping with venom and arrogance. "That Kate woman is practically a ghost. She walks around wearing those cheap clothes, acting like she is better than us. She just pollutes the air in this house. How could that useless, uneducated loser ever compare to Alize? Alize is a literal goddess."

"Exactly," Carol chimed in, letting out a nasty, high pitched laugh. "Alize is perfection. Her uncle is a city councilman, and her family has real money. Think of what her connections will do for your newly public company! If you hadn't insisted on marrying Kate three years ago out of some misplaced guilt, I never would have let that poor, dirty orphan step foot in this house. She is nothing but a parasite sucking our family dry."

"Mom, Jess, just drop it," Emerson's voice sounded from the armchair. He sounded worn out, but he didn't offer a single word to defend me. He simply let them tear my name to shreds.

"Why should I drop it?" Carol snapped viciously. "Look at everything you have given her! Does she show an ounce of gratitude? Giving you attitude at your own IPO party yesterday! I am telling you, you need to divorce her immediately and marry Alize before she drags you down!"

I stood in the shadows of the foyer, my lips curling into a dark, sarcastic smirk. They actually thought Alize was a goddess? They were mistaking a cheap, manipulative piece of glass for a rare diamond. And a parasite? I was the one who wrote the algorithms that made them billionaires. I didn't want to waste my breath on these ignorant fools. I just wanted to get my things and get out.

I stepped out from behind the pillar, my heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the quiet house.

The cheerful chatter in the living room cut off instantly. All three of them turned their heads, their eyes landing on me, and then slowly dropping to the two wooden urns secured in my arms.

Jessica wrinkled her nose in extreme disgust and shrank back against the expensive sofa cushions, pulling her legs up. "Oh my god, Kate, did you actually bring those filthy things into the house?"

Carol stood up abruptly, pulling a silk handkerchief from her pocket to cover her nose as if something smelled rotten. She didn't know my parents were national heroes. She just saw two wooden boxes and an opportunity to inflict pain.

"Kate, have you completely lost your mind?" Carol barked, pointing a manicured finger at my chest. "Bringing dead people's ashes into our home? You disgust me! Take that trash and get out of my house right now! It is dirty, it is unhygienic, and it is terrible luck!"

My fingers dug so hard into the corners of the wooden boxes that my knuckles turned stark white. The last trace of warmth in my body vanished, replaced by a dark, simmering rage that threatened to boil over. I pressed my lips together tightly, suppressing the overwhelming urge to smash the nearby crystal vase directly over her head.

"These are my parents," I said, my voice dropping dangerously low, carrying a lethal warning.

"I do not care if they are the king and queen of England!" Carol screamed, her face turning blotchy red with manic fury. "They are dead losers just like you! A pair of nobodies who left you with nothing! Take them out this instant, or I swear to God, I will throw them into the garbage dump myself!"

I turned my head and looked at Emerson. He stood by the coffee table, watching his mother hurl vicious, unforgivable insults at my dead parents, and he didn't say a single word to stop her. He didn't tell her to respect the dead. He just stood there, embarrassed by my presence.

"They are staying in this house today," I said, locking my cold eyes onto Emerson and his mother, emphasizing every single word. "Because my name is on half the deed to this property."

Carol's eyes bulged with sheer, unadulterated fury at my defiance. "How dare you speak to me like that in my own home!" she shrieked. "This house does not welcome dead people's junk!"

Before anyone could react, Carol lunged straight at me. Her face was twisted into a malicious snarl, her hands clawed open as she aimed directly for the flag draped urns in my arms, screaming, "I will throw them out myself!"