At 3:47 am my father summoned me for “a family emergency,” but when I saw the red convertible in the driveway and they asked for access to my accounts, I understood that they didn’t want to help me… they wanted to keep everything for themselves.

Brianna clicked her tongue and told me to get over it because I seemed bitter about the past. “I am not bitter but I am observing that you only care about oversight now that my company has been bought for millions,” I replied.

My father’s jaw tightened as he shouted that they were not asking for gifts but were simply asking for access. That was when I noticed a thick envelope with the logo of a car finance company sitting on the desk next to him.

“When did you buy that red car outside, Brianna?” I asked the only question that actually mattered in that room. She looked up with an uncomfortable expression and asked me what the car had to do with our conversation.

“I want to know if you paid for it with cash or if it is financed,” I said while I looked directly at her. My father hit the desk with his open palm and told me to stop interrogating my sister about her choices.

He claimed they were only there to prevent me from making bad decisions with my inheritance. I had lived for six years eating instant noodles and working eighteen hour days while surviving on maxed out credit cards and cheap coffee.