My name is Prudence Paul. I’m 17 years old, though not for much longer. We live in a Pacific Palisades estate that looks like a modern art museum — glass walls, infinity pool, imported Italian marble.
My late biological father built the foundation of this wealth. He was a software pioneer who understood code better than he understood people.
He died when I was nine.
My mother Veronica, a former socialite whose main talent is spending other people’s money, wasted no time. She married Harrison, a venture capitalist whose ventures rarely yield actual capital. Then there’s Serena, my 23-year-old half-sister, a lifestyle influencer who gets the imported cars, the praise, and the ocean-view suite.
I get the guest bedroom near the laundry room. In our house, love is a transaction.
It started on a Tuesday. Veronica walked in wearing a silk robe, tapped her manicured nails on the marble, and informed me that Serena’s brand launch mixer was scheduled for next Friday — my 18th birthday — and the dinner reservation I’d asked for would be pushed to next month.
“You understand, darling. Serena’s at a crucial point in her career. We all have to be team players.” She didn’t look at me when she said it.
She looked at her reflection in the microwave door. I went flat. That was the response I had trained myself to give for eight years.
Crying in this house is a tactical error. Crying gives them a performance to manage. “That works, Mom.
I have an algorithms final to study for anyway.” Veronica exhaled, relieved that the furniture hadn’t complained about being rearranged. “See,” she told Serena, “Prudence is always so practical.”
They thought my silence was submission. They didn’t understand I was gathering data.
In exactly 14 days, my father’s trust would legally transfer to my name — $45 million. Veronica and Harrison had been dropping hints for months about family wealth management, restructuring assets to avoid taxes. Canceling my birthday wasn’t just an oversight.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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