I could hear footsteps gathering outside the door, classmates drawn over by Annette's commotion like spectators to a car wreck.
My perfectly good sleep, ruined. I was about to lose my mind.
"Annette, I'm telling you one last time. Abner is NOT my brother. He's the one who chased after ME."
"I rejected him ages ago. There is nothing between us. If you go around spreading lies, I will sue you for defamation."
Annette glared at me, teeth clenched so hard I could hear them grind. "Just you wait."
I wrote her off as mentally unstable and went right back to sleep.
On Friday, Erica came to me out of the blue. "Zelda, don't go home this weekend. Annette invited the whole class to her place for her birthday, remember? Let's go together tomorrow."
"Annette invited the whole class to her place? She never said a word to me."
"What? No way."
"Clearly she didn't want me there. I'll pass."
Erica sighed. "Well, guess I'm going alone then. Her place is on Riverside Drive, super far from campus. Sounds like a fancy neighborhood, though."
"Wait, isn't Annette from out of state? Let me see the actual address."
Erica held up her phone. The address on the screen was my family's mansion.
That little weasel Abner. He'd brought Annette back to MY house and was throwing her a birthday party in MY home.
He really had started believing he was my parents' biological son.
"Erica, I'm coming with you tomorrow."
It had been three years since I'd set foot in the mansion, not since my parents moved abroad. The place was too big, too empty. It never felt like home when I was there alone. So I'd bought a three-bedroom condo near campus and stayed there during breaks instead.
Abner's father, Kevin, was my dad's chauffeur. His mother, Beth, was our housekeeper. The three of them lived in the mansion to look after the property.
Apparently, after enough time, they'd decided the place was theirs.
The next day I called a car to take us over. Servants I'd never seen before stood at the front gate, checking invitations from Annette before letting anyone through.
When it was my turn, I had no invitation. The servant stepped in front of me.
"No invitation, no entry."
I almost laughed. "You must be new. Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I don't care who you are. Without an invitation from the young missus, you're not getting in."
"Young missus?" I stared at him. "Are you sure there's a young master in this house?"
I raised my voice toward the door. "Abner Heath, get out here. NOW."
He came scurrying out within seconds.
"Zelda, why are you suddenly back?"
"This is MY house. Do I need your permission to come home?" My voice was ice. "Three years living here and you've forgotten you're just the help?"
His face drained of color. He grabbed my arm and lowered his voice to a desperate whisper. "All of Annette's classmates are here. Just give me some face, please. Pretend to be my sister, just for today. I'm begging you."
"And if I don't?" I yanked my arm free. "Abner, I gave you chances. I gave you face. Last time you brought Annette here, I let it slide. I never imagined you'd have the nerve to push it this far."
I strode past him into the house. Classmates were everywhere, wandering through the rooms like tourists at an open house.
"Oh my God, Annette, your place is HUGE! Your family is loaded!"
"Annette, you are SO lucky, marrying the heir to Heath Corp!"
"If I lived in a house like this, I'd be smiling in my sleep. Annette, you have to look out for me from now on!"
Annette stood in the middle of it all, soaking up every word of flattery, her smile so wide it looked like her face might split.
Abner grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me into the study before I could say a word. The lock clicked behind us.
"Please, Zelda. Just this once. Help me just this once."
"Get out of my way. Let me out."
"No." His voice dropped, and something ugly surfaced in his eyes. "If you don't agree, I'll take what I want right here in this room. And when I walk out that door, I'll tell everyone you threw yourself at me."
I was equal parts stunned and furious.
"Abner, you're threatening me?!"
When he saw I wasn't backing down, he lunged and grabbed at my clothes.
"Everyone here works for me. Nobody will believe you! Trying to seduce your own brother? I'd love to see you show your face in public after this!"
I fought him off with everything I had. "You're insane, Abner!"
The door burst open with a deafening kick, and Annette stood in the doorway, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Zelda, you shameless slut! You're throwing yourself at your own brother at MY birthday party? I'm carrying his baby! Your own nephew!"
"Are you even human? How could you do something so disgusting, so depraved!"
Every classmate in the hallway turned to stare. Their eyes crawled over me. Fingers pointed. Whispers hissed. The verdict was written on every face: whore.
I smoothed my disheveled hair, walked calmly to the study's hidden compartment, and pulled out a small red booklet.
"This is my family's registry. And by the way, this room has a security camera."
