My father pointed at the front door and told me to take my five-year-old daughter and leave Christmas dinner. My brother laughed, and my mother stared at her plate. None of them knew that I owned a $71 million technology company—or that the money paying for their beautiful life came from me.

Twenty-four hours later, my brother Tyler called.

He didn't call with anger; he called with the terrified, breathless panic of a man whose illusion of grandeur was shattering around him.

"Lucia! Sis! Hey, it's Ty," he said, his voice high and strained. "Look, I think there's been a massive misunderstanding with the bank."

"There's no misunderstanding, Tyler," I replied, reviewing a financial audit on my iPad.

"Lucia, listen to me!" he pleaded, his voice trembling. "The bank just froze my business account for Lakefront Charters! They served me with a default notice on the thirty-two-foot boat! They said the loan guarantor—Apex Trust—withdrew its collateral bond! If I don't produce eighty thousand dollars by Friday, they're seizing the boat and repossessing my truck!"

"Then I suggest you sell the boat, Tyler," I answered smoothly.

"I can't sell it for what I owe!" he shrieked. "Brooke will leave me! She thinks I'm a successful business owner! Everyone in town thinks I'm making six figures! You can't do this to me, Lucia! We're blood!"

"Blood?" I scoffed softly. "Where was that blood on Christmas night, Tyler? When Dad was screaming at my five-year-old daughter, you sat there, drank your wine, and made fun of her. You spent your whole life sneering at me, calling my hard work 'computer games,' while living off the secret allowance I gave you."

"I didn't know the money came from you!" he yelled, breaking into desperate tears. "If I knew, I would have treated you differently!"

I let out a long, quiet sigh that carried total disgust.

"That's the most pathetic thing you've ever said, Tyler," I told him. "You shouldn't have treated me well because I had money. You should have treated me well because I was your sister, and Ellie was your niece. The fact that you only respect wealth proves how empty you really are."

"Lucia, please! Just give me six months! I'll pay you back every cent!"