“She doesn’t want to manage it. She wants to steal it.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Mom said flatly. “She’s thinking of the family’s future.”
There it was again, the family card, always stacked in Megan’s favor.
I ended the call before the anger boiling in my chest came out in words I couldn’t take back.
By midday, I needed air. I took a walk down the dirt road, the chill biting through my jacket. The woods were still, the kind of quiet that sharpens every sound. Half a mile down, I found fresh tire tracks cutting into the brush near the property line. Someone had driven off-road to get closer.
I crouched, tracing the ruts with my finger. Wide spacing, heavy tread, probably the same SUV. They hadn’t just stopped by. They’d been poking around.
When I got back, Jack was stacking firewood by his porch.
“You’ve got company snooping?” he asked like he already knew the answer.
“Summit Realty,” I said, dropping my hands into my pockets.
He let out a low whistle.
“That’s Megan’s bunch, right?”
“Yeah. She sent them here like she owns the place.”
Jack shook his head.
“Seen it before. Family fights over land get uglier than combat zones. You’ll want everything locked tight with a lawyer.”
“I’ve got a name, Robert Chen. Dad set it up. I’ll call him tomorrow.”
“Good,” Jack said. “And Hannah, don’t let them see you rattled. Greedy folks smell fear like wolves.”
That night, as the fire burned low, I thought about his words. Wolves. That’s exactly what Megan was unleashing.
The next day, I drove into town and found a small diner with decent Wi-Fi. Over eggs and coffee, I drafted an email to Robert Chen’s office. Within an hour, I had a reply. He could meet me Friday. Relief settled in, knowing Dad had set up a legal safety net before he died.
Back at the cabin, I found fresh footprints by the dock. My stomach dropped. Someone else had been here while I was gone. I scanned the ground: three distinct sets of bootprints leading from the road straight to the back porch.
Inside, nothing seemed touched. Still, I walked each room carefully, instincts from years of deployment kicking in. Cleared corners, checked windows, no signs of forced entry. But the fact that strangers had come this close was enough.
That evening, Mom called again. I almost didn’t answer, but something in me wanted to hear what excuse she had this time.
“Hannah,” she said, “you’re making things worse. Megan feels like you’re shutting her out.”
“She’s breaking into my life, Mom. Literally. I had strangers walking my property lines this morning.”
“She’s just trying to protect family interests,” Mom insisted.
“Family interests?” I snapped. “What about my interests? What about Dad’s wishes? He trusted me with this, not her.”
The silence stretched heavy. Finally, she said, “Megan is worried you’ll ruin things out of spite.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Out of spite? She called me a stinking woman in front of you, and you sat there, and now you’re siding with her. Tell me, Mom, when exactly did I stop being part of this family?”
Her voice faltered.
“That’s not true, Hannah.”
“Feels true.”
I hung up before she could respond. I paced the living room, anger pumping hot in my veins. Every call, every move Megan made was calculated to corner me. She had Mom on her side. She had money. And now she had her company sniffing around like they already owned the deed.
But she didn’t have me. And she didn’t have Dad’s letter.
That night, I pulled the metal box out again, laying the documents across the table. Mineral surveys, legal deeds, contracts waiting to be finalized. Megan could play dirty, but this was proof. Hard evidence. If she wanted a fight, she was about to get one, and I wasn’t walking away.
The wind picked up outside, rattling the shutters. I locked the door and loaded the old hunting rifle Dad had left in the closet. Not because I planned to use it, but because it reminded me of something the army drilled into me over and over: You don’t leave yourself exposed.
When the house was quiet again, I stood at the window, looking out at the dark tree line. Somewhere out there, Megan’s people were circling, but I wasn’t going anywhere.
