Chapter 4 Shattered ties, stolen legacy

This cannot happen," Anna said, her voice trembling but resolute. Her heart pounded as if it might burst from her chest, and she could feel her palms growing clammy. "You cannot drive me out of my father's house-my house. I'm not going anywhere!"

"Oh, but you are," Whittaker said with a sly smirk, his voice as cold and sharp as the blade of a knife. His posture oozed confidence, his victory already secured in his mind. "Your father signed these documents himself. Everything he had, including this house, is now mine."

He leaned over the table and grabbed a stack of documents. With a mocking flick of his wrist, he tossed them toward her. The papers fluttered down like dying leaves, landing in a disorganized heap at her feet.

Anna hesitated. Her hands trembled as she bent to pick them up, the weight of her uncle's words settling like a stone in her stomach. Slowly, she turned the pages, her eyes scanning the signatures at the bottom of each sheet.

It was unmistakable-her father's name scrawled in his familiar handwriting.

"No," she whispered, her voice cracking. Her head began to spin, a whirlwind of disbelief and confusion. How could this be? Her father would never willingly hand over everything he had worked so hard for, everything they had built together.

"This... this doesn't make sense," she said, her voice shaking. Her gaze darted up to Whittaker, searching his face for answers, but all she found was smug satisfaction. "What did you do to my dad to make him sign these?"

"What did you say?" Whittaker snapped, his tone laced with mockery and menace.

"My dad would never sign these papers unless he was forced," Anna said, her voice rising with anger. Her grief had begun to mix with rage, forming a volatile storm in her chest. "Even if he did, there's nothing here about this house being yours. I have every right to stay here!"

Before she could say another word, Leticia shot up from her seat. Her face twisted with fury, and without hesitation, she delivered two hard, stinging slaps to Anna's cheeks.

The pain was instant, radiating across her face, but it was the humiliation that burned the most.

"This house is the Harriet family mansion, you stupid girl," Leticia hissed, her words dripping with venom. "Don't you get it? You don't belong here anymore. Everything your father had is ours now. You're just a parasite clinging to what doesn't belong to you!"

Anna stared at her in shock, her face stinging from the slap, her heart breaking from the cruelty of the words. Leticia's disdain was like a dagger, twisting deeper with every syllable.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Leticia shouted, her voice rising to a shrill pitch. "You're leaving tomorrow morning, and that's final. Do you hear me? You lazy, ungrateful slug!"

Anna turned her gaze to Whittaker, silently pleading with him to intervene, to stop Leticia's tirade. But he sat silently, his expression cold and indifferent. He didn't even flinch, as though her suffering was nothing more than an inconvenience.

Her shoulders sagged under the weight of her despair. With no fight left in her, she trudged up the stairs to her room, each step heavier than the last.

When she finally reached her room, she collapsed onto the bed. The tears came in a torrent, hot and unrelenting, soaking the pillow beneath her.

"This is too much," she whispered into the darkness, her voice shaking with despair. "How can so many terrible things happen in just one day? How can the world be so cruel?"

She thought of her father, of the strength he had always shown even in the face of adversity. His words echoed in her mind, a faint glimmer of hope amidst the darkness: "It is cowardice to fight a losing battle, but it's courageous to give up and fight another day."

Clinging to those words, Anna cried herself to sleep, her body and spirit utterly drained.

But her rest was short-lived.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The harsh sound of fists pounding on her door jolted her awake.

"It's time to leave my house, you lazy slug!" Leticia's voice cut through the silence, sharp and merciless. "Get up and get out! You don't belong here!"

Anna sat up, her heart racing. Her mind was still groggy from sleep, but the weight of Leticia's words quickly snapped her back to reality.

Each word was like a slap to the face, echoing in her ears and driving the knife of humiliation even deeper. Leticia wasn't just trying to force her out-she was trying to strip her of every ounce of dignity, every shred of self-worth.

Anna's body trembled as she stood, her legs weak beneath her. She felt like a puppet with its strings cut, trying desperately to hold herself together. As she opened the door, Leticia stood there with a triumphant sneer, her arms crossed.

"Finally," Leticia said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep the whole day away. Typical."

Anna clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. Her grief and anger swirled together in a toxic mix, but she knew she couldn't afford to lose control. Not now.

She glanced past Leticia to see Whittaker standing in the hallway, his expression unreadable. The man who had once been her father's trusted brother now felt like a stranger, a predator circling its prey.

The weight of betrayal pressed down on her like an avalanche. She had lost her father, her home, and now the people who should have been her family were reveling in her pain, tearing apart the fragile remnants of her world.

Anna took a deep breath, steeling herself. She might have lost everything, but she refused to let them take her spirit. Not completely.