After I Finally Bought My First Apartment, My Father Demanded I Sell It and Hand the Cash to My Sister

Eleanor spun around, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and immediate, toxic fury. She looked exactly the same as the day I left her: perfectly coiffed hair, an immaculate tailored suit, and a face completely twisted by arrogant entitlement.

"Maya," Eleanor sneered, looking me up and down with absolute disdain. "So, this is the pathetic little massage parlor you threw your family away for."

"This is a licensed physical therapy clinic," I corrected, my voice ringing clear, steady, and completely devoid of fear. I didn't shrink under her gaze. I stood tall, firmly planted in the center of the empire I had built. "And you are currently trespassing."

"I am here for my daughter," Eleanor demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the locked partition where Sarah was sheltering Chloe. "She stole money from me, and she is coming home right now."

"Chloe is an adult," I stated coldly. "She is under absolutely no obligation to go anywhere with you. Furthermore, she told me exactly how you bruised her wrist. If you do not turn around and walk out those glass doors immediately, I will have the police arrest you for domestic assault and trespassing."

Eleanor laughed, a harsh, grating sound meant to intimidate me. "You wouldn't dare. You are a weak, ungrateful child, Maya. You always have been."

"I am the CEO of this company," I countered, taking a slow, deliberate step toward her, forcing her to instinctively step back. "I own this building. I have security cameras recording every single second of your violent outburst. I have twenty patients in this building who are currently acting as witnesses to your harassment. Do not test my resolve, Eleanor. I am not the frightened teenager you used to abuse."

Eleanor looked around the lobby. Several patients were indeed staring at her, some holding their cell phones up, recording the confrontation. The realization that she had completely lost control of the narrative finally pierced her arrogant delusion.

"You will regret this, Maya," Eleanor hissed, her face burning with humiliation. "I will destroy this pathetic little business."