Chapter 1Ever since my brother married Tessa, they fought every damn day.
Every fight ended the same way—Tessa smashed a car to blow off steam.
Except she always wrecked MINE.
"I couldn't tell which one was Grayson's."
Three years, 27 times totaled. I dropped 700K just on repairs.
Whenever I complained, my WHOLE family shut me up.
"It's just a car, Sloane. You really wanna ruin Grayson's marriage?"
"Suck it up. We're family."
Then Tessa had another meltdown and beat my hood. Again.
Halfway to the shop, my brakes DIED.
Seventy-five mph into a semi. I died on the spot.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Same day. Same fight.
That's when I found Tessa's search history:
"How long before cut brake lines fail"
"What happens to my sister-in-law's assets if she dies"
So she never tried to wreck my cars.
She tried to KILL ME.
I smiled.
Walked downstairs. Swapped my plates with Grayson's.
Mistake #28? Your turn.
...
8:40 PM. The sound of a plate shattering upstairs.
I was scrolling through my phone in my room. My thumb stopped.
Tessa's voice kept rising.
"Grayson, you bastard!"
My brother's response was muffled through the walls.
The next second, the door slammed open.
Tessa wiped at her tears as she stormed through the living room. Disappeared into the storage closet.
I stood up, opened my phone camera and pointed it at the closet door.
Tessa walked out with a hammer. Her jaw was clenched tight.
Without saying a word, she headed downstairs.
I followed silently.
The garage lights flickered.
She bent over, checking license plates one by one—finally stopped in front of a white Tesla.
The plate ended in AUV-1249.
Her expression instantly hardened. She raised the hammer, arm tensed, shoulder pulled back.
Right before she swung, I spoke up.
"Tessa."
She jumped and spun around.
The moment she saw me, she froze.
I pointed at the black SUV across from her.
"Wrong car. That's Grayson's."
Her face went stiff.
"Is it?"
She turned slowly and walked over to the black SUV.
But somehow, the hammer stayed down.
Afraid she still didn't believe me, I pointed at the phone number taped to the passenger window.
"See? That's Grayson's number. Go ahead. Smash it."
Tessa didn't say anything.
After a long pause, she forced a smile.
"Sloane, you should go upstairs. I don't want to scare you."
I nodded.
Then I got in my car, started the engine and shifted into drive.
Tessa's face changed.
"Sloane, why are you driving?"
"Grocery run."
Her voice shot up as she hurried in front of my car.
"It's only two blocks away. Why do you need the car?"
"It's hot. Don't feel like walking."
I answered calmly.
Tessa's jaw tightened.
She stared at me for a long moment, then her mouth turned down.
"Just come back soon."
I didn't answer.
Drove out of the complex. Parked in the lot next door.
I locked the car and took a picture.
Then I walked back.
When I passed our parking spot, I made sure to look.
Grayson's black SUV sat there untouched.
I let out a cold laugh.
Went upstairs. Took a shower. Went to bed.
Next morning, seven or eight missed calls on my phone.
The property manager's voice came through the speaker.
"Ms. Hartley, your car's been smashed again."
I froze.
I'd moved it.
What the hell happened.
Chapter 2
He sent a photo.
I opened it. My stomach dropped.
The white Tesla sat in the garage, windshield cracked into a spiderweb, hood caved in with two massive dents.
Both doors were smashed. All four tires slashed flat, rims scraping the ground.
Plate AUV-1249—the exact car I'd parked next door last night.
I went straight to the property office.
In the security room, footage from last night played on the screen.
7 PM: I parked the car next door.
8:30 PM: Someone drove it back.
The person who got out of the driver's seat was MY DAD.
1:12 AM: Tessa walked out in her pink silk pajamas, hammer in hand.
She walked past dozens of cars and went straight to my white Tesla.
Raised the hammer.
Swung.
First hit—the windshield shattered into a spiderweb.
Second hit—the hood caved in.
Third hit—the door crumpled.
She cursed with every swing. Her voice came through the audio.
"Little shameless bitch. I'll teach you to run your mouth!"
I stared at the screen.
Couldn't tell if she was cursing Grayson or me.
After she finished with the body, she bent down and stabbed each tire.
Front left, front right, rear left, rear right—every single one.
The hiss of air escaping came through the speakers.
I copied the footage onto a flash drive, pulled it out and held it tight in my fist.
When I got home, I played it right in front of whole family.
Tessa froze for a second.
Then tears rolled down her face.
"Sloane, I swear I didn't do it on purpose."
"I was so angry I couldn't think straight. I couldn't tell which car..."
I stared at her.
"Yesterday, I specifically showed you which car was Grayson's."
"Why didn't you smash THAT one?"
Her mouth opened and closed.
"I was still giving Grayson a chance. He wouldn't apologize, so I lost it in the middle of the night and went down with the hammer.
I smirked.
"Mine's white. Grayson's is black. You can't even tell colors apart?"
She paused, then cried harder.
"It was dark. You know I'm nearsighted."
My chest heaved with anger.
"Fine. Let's say you really couldn't see."
"My car was in Section C. Grayson's was in Section A."
"You walked all the way from A to C. That wasn't on purpose too?"
Tessa's whole body trembled as she kept shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I don't understand any of this..."
Grayson pulled her into his arms. His face darkened.
"It's just a car. Smash it, we fix it."
"You had to drag the property manager into this? Make us look like fools in front of the neighbors?"
My dad slammed his hand on the table.
"I'M the one who drove it back."
"Why would you park your car in someone else's complex?"
"You wanna ruin your brother's marriage? Then nobody in this family gets to be happy!"
My mom grabbed my hand. Her face was full of worry.
"Honey, be reasonable."
"Tessa already apologized. We're family. Just let it go."
I yanked my hand away.
"Three years. She's totaled three of my cars! This one's about to be scrapped too."
Grayson pulled out his phone and started tapping furiously.
A moment later, my phone buzzed.
Payment received: $100.
He pointed at my face.
"You want money? There. I gave you money. Now shut up."
I was so furious my lungs seemed to ache.
My first car was a BMW. Sixty grand.
Tessa smashed it seventeen times. I paid $23,000 in repairs.
My second car was an Audi. Forty-five grand.
She smashed it twenty times. $28,000 in repairs.
My third car was the Tesla I'd only had for three months.
Now it was wrecked again.
Eight years of work. Not a cent saved.
Now he sends me a hundred bucks and tells me to fix my car.
I couldn't speak.
Grayson walked Tessa into their room and slammed the door.
That night, Tessa's family showed up.
Her parents, two cousins, her aunt—packed the entire couch.
Tessa sat on the side, sniffling.
Her mom sat with her legs crossed.
"Our Tessa has never been treated this way in her life."
"She marries into this family and gets screamed at?"
Her dad smoked a cigarette, flicking ash onto our floor.
"Some bitches never get married. They just mooch off the family and count their brother's money."
"If you can't raise your daughter right, send her to me. I'll beat some sense into her."
My parents smiled and nodded. Swore up and down.
"This year. We'll get Sloane married off."
"She won't bother Grayson and Tessa anymore."
Early the next morning, I called a tow truck and had the car sent to the shop.
Around 2 PM, the house exploded again.
Grayson and Tessa were fighting.
Then came that familiar sound—the bedroom door slamming shut.
Tessa walked out of the storage closet with the hammer in her hand, moving with purpose.
Less than thirty minutes later, my phone rang.
It was Tony, the owner of the auto shop. His voice was strained and apologetic.
"Ms. Hartley. Someone smashed your car."
Chapter 3
My stomach dropped.
"The woman who smashed it said she's your sister-in-law. Family business, and told me to stay out of it."
When I got to the shop, I stopped dead in the doorway.
There was my white Tesla.
The front end was completely caved in. Hood crumpled into a ball of scrap metal. Windshield shattered down to the frame.
The left side was dented half a foot deep. The frame was bent.
Tony stood next to it.
"Engine's shot. Frame's shot. Undercarriage's shot. This one's totaled."
I walked around the car slowly.
Fresh hammer marks all over the body.
One after another. Like cuts straight into my bones.
Tessa stood a few feet away, leaning into Grayson's chest, sobbing.
Grayson held her. His tone was light.
"My car got scratched too, so I brought it in."
"Tessa apologized already. It's not that big a deal. Just handle it."
He pointed to the side.
His SUV was there.
One shallow scratch on the body. Barely visible.
I didn't say anything.
Just pulled out my phone and started recording.
Filmed from the front to the back. From the hammer marks to the destroyed undercarriage.
Tony pulled the paperwork for the total-loss process from his cabinet and began filling it out.
VIN. Engine number. Purchase date. Mileage.
I stood beside him, checking every detail one by one.
Then signed and looked back at the car.
Maybe because I never gave either of them so much as a glance, Tessa pulled away from Grayson.
She yanked the gold bracelet off her wrist and shoved it into my hand.
"Sloane, please take it. I'm so sorry."
Before I could react, Grayson's face changed.
"Sloane, you're not seriously gonna take money from your sister-in-law, are you?"
I pulled my hand back.
"This car cost thirty-seven thousand."
Tessa's eyes turned red. Her shoulders started shaking again.
Grayson stepped in front of her and yelled at me.
"How's she supposed to know that? Why are you scaring her?"
He pulled out his phone, furious. Dialed a number.
A moment later, my phone rang.
My dad's voice was so loud the speaker shook.
"You're asking your brother and his wife for money? Sloane, don't pull this disgusting crap."
I gripped the phone. My nails dug into my palm.
"I didn't ask her for money."
My mom's voice cut in from the side.
"That bracelet was part of Tessa's wedding jewelry. What does it look like if you take it? People will think we bully our daughter-in-law!"
"I didn't take it!" I shot back.
My dad roared.
"You think you're in the right here?"
"Tessa didn't do it on purpose. The car's smashed, so what? It's your brother's property anyway."
"What gives you the right to throw a fit?"
I was shaking with anger.
"What do you mean it's my brother's property? I bought the car!"
My dad let out a cold laugh.
"Are you married? No? Then everything you own belongs to the family. Belongs to your brother!"
A wave of bitterness made my voice crack.
"I bought it with my own money."
"I've worked for eight years since graduating. The fridge, the AC, when you and Mom got sick—who paid for all of it?"
My mom's voice came through in a sob.
"Are you keeping a tab on your own parents now?"
"How did I raise such an ungrateful daughter?"
The call cut off with a click.
Tony looked at me hesitantly, pity in his eyes.
Grayson stood off to the side, smirking.
He clapped his hands once and walked away like he'd won.
I took a deep breath.
Then spoke calmly.
"Keep going with the paperwork."
