The office answering machine beeped and I heard Mom begin her message. “Genevieve? It’s Mom, honey. Please call me back.”

Her voice was so sweet, and reassuring that I instinctively reached for the phone, before I stopped myself. My hand dropped with a thud onto the desk as I let the message end with the beep, then watched the voicemail counter go up a number and flash. I couldn’t bare to talk to anyone right now, especially not them now that I was resigned to sell the business that they poured their whole lives into.

I lowered my head to the desk and tried to process everything that happened. How had everything turned to shit so quickly? Things were starting to make sense!

Despite watching my livelihood and legacy fall to tatters, it was Kade that cut the deepest. He didn’t even let me say goodbye to Emma.

Taking care of that adorable brown-eyed girl this week had become so exhaustingly comfortable, that it felt wrong not to have her. It felt as if I’d misplaced one of my arms. She was so much work, but the little games we played and the way she smiled at me stirred something in my soul that neither my business, nor even Kade came close to reaching.

I knew that finding Emma a home was always the plan, but not getting to see her one last time before she was gone…

It twisted me all up and crushed me into a fine powder. I felt rudderless, hopeless, adrift in a vast ocean of loneliness.

How could you do that to me, Kade?

“Fuck!” I stuttered in air and choked back a flood of tears as the office phone began to ring again. I reached out to tear the cord out of the phone and kill the line all together but the answering machine was quicker and started playing the message.

“Genny, Mom again. Please pick up if you’re there, sweetie. I’ve been calling your cell but it’s off. We’re worried about you and need to know if you’re alright.” There was a long pause, as Mom struggled to find the words. “Your father and I just want you to know how proud of you we are.”

Proud? I coughed and choked. How could they possibly be proud of me?

“I failed Mom.” I grabbed the phone and turned off the answering machine. “It’s over. There’s nothing to be proud of. I haven’t had the business for a full year and now it’s going to get sold off.”

“Failed? Mom asked with genuine curiosity. “Tell me. How many orders have you received in the past month?

“Like a dozen.” I snorted darkly, feeling that pit in my stomach grow. “The soap sales are at a record low.”

“No.” Mom paused, carefully navigating how she was going to continue. “With your other business endeavor.

“You mean the sex lube?” I clarified bluntly. I was too depressed and defeated to be anything but upfront and raw with my not-so-secret-anymore project. “I don’t know, several hundred, maybe as much as a few thousand.”

“A thousand orders?” Mom’s pitch raised. “Sweetie, that’s more than double our best month in the past fifteen years.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to have to refund all the orders anyways. I don’t have the product to fill them.”

“I heard,” Mom said. “The Copa’s called us to see if we knew what you were doing with their aloe. Your father offered them more money to send you the rest of the shipment, but they rather aggressively turned us down.”

“Wait.” My head cocked back. I wiped my puffy red eyes. “You don’t care that I’ve completely twisted the ideals of the Shepherd Soaps?”

“Ideals?” Mom laughed. “Your great grandfather funded this business with laundered money from bootleggers during the prohibition. Just because we made soap doesn’t mean our family is squeaky clean.”

“Really? Great Paw Paw was a criminal?” How had I never heard about that before? “Wow.”

“Honestly, Sweetie, the fact that you’ve evolved and were starting to thrive in a new day and age is incredibly admirable. That’s why we’re proud of you! Don’t listen to all the prudes in that town.”

“Thanks, Mom.” The corner of my mouth threatened a smile. One part of the weight on my chest had been lifted. It was amazing how a few sentences from the people I loved made me feel so much better. “But what do I do know? If you guys couldn’t get Copa to budge, what chance do I have?”

“Genevieve, in your short time as owner you’ve already done much more than we could’ve. If anyone can find a way to pull through this it’s you.” Mom let the words stand on their own before continuing. “Listen, we’ll support you if you want to sell Shepherd Soaps but don’t let anyone else make that decision for you.”

I chuckled weakly and thanked her again for giving me some stuff to think about. The conversation drifted through several topics like it always did, but afterwards when we said our goodbyes I felt so much better.

At least better enough to turn my phone back on and stop running from my problems.

While my phone booted and updated, I listened to and deleted all the office messages I’d received in the last few days. I used my cell for most of the business stuff so I was terrible at checking the machine.

The last message was from the delivery company confirming my order, shipping address and amount that was going to be billed. Everything sounded correct, like it had when I placed the order.

I knew I was right! So what happened then?

At the very end of the message right before the dispatcher was about to hang up I heard a familiar voice.

“Wait! Hi! This is Genevieve Shepherd,” Amber said. “I’m a complete airhead. I forgot to update you. Yeah we moved. I need all that stuff delivered to another address. Are you ready?” Then the message cut off.

“Oh, you incredible bitch!” I shot up and shouted. Immediately it all became clear. She was actively sabotaging me so I’d have to sell everything. That way, as per our our parents contract, she’d get half. “That. Is. It.”

The apathy and dourness that slowed me down drained from my body, my limbs became lithe with an adrenaline-fueled fury. It only took a few minutes browsing through Amber’s Twitter and Snapchat to realize that she’d be out all day shopping with her friends. I wouldn’t be able to confront her until later this afternoon, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to wait around doing nothing. The gears in my head turned so quickly that I was surprised smoke wasn’t pouring out of my ears. Before long, I knew exactly how to handle my conniving, two-faced sister. I raced out of the store and drove into town.

When I got back from the hardware store I changed all the locks of the attached apartment upstairs, then I moved all of her stuff outside into a big pile. Amber needed everyone to know where she was at all times when she was out shopping so I knew exactly when she was wrapping things up. When she was done for the day I poured myself a milkless bowl of the cereal she’d stolen from me and I waited.

Amber stepped out of her car wearing an expression of angry horror at seeing all her possessions in a pile that clashed terribly against her cute pastel outfit. She lowered her oversized sunglasses and sneered at me. “What the fuck is this?”

“Was I being too subtle throwing all your shit out onto the road?” I crunched on my cereal casually as I made my way down the exterior stairs that led up to the apartment. “You don’t live here anymore. I’m evicting you.”

“You- You can’t evict me, you cunt!” Amber screamed, dropping both armloads of shopping bags. “I live there! Our parents-”

“Gave me the building.” I completed the sentence for her and finished my cereal, then put the bowl down and wiped my hands. “So that makes me your landlord. You have the last eight-months worth of rent and utilities?”

Amber paused, fuming, and decided to change the subject. “Mom and Dad are going to be so pissed when they hear about this! They’re going-”

“To what exactly?” I answered, getting a flashback to my conversation with the Copas. So, THIS is how it feels to be on this end, huh? “Even if I hadn’t told them how you’ve been sabotaging the business at every turn, which I totally did by the way, they signed everything over to me when they retired.”

“This is against the law!” Amber’s voice boomed with impotent rage and indignation as she stomped the ground. “You can’t just kick someone out, you have to send them some notices or something.”

“You really didn’t listen to a thing our parents said did you. No wonder they gave everything to me.” I smiled. “I’ve been the one to let you live here, not them. I felt bad for you. I don’t anymore.”

“I live here! I’ve got like squatters rights or whatever.”

“Do you live here?” I asked, walking over to the pile of expensive designer clothes and handbags. All of which was bought for her by boys she’s been leading on or by fans of her channel. I picked up a red plastic, gallon tank. “You don’t get your mail delivered here. You never bring any friends over. You never mention this place in any of your videos. It’s almost like you’re ashamed to live rent free above your parent’s modest soap making shop?”

“Tell me,” I poured the gasoline over the pile of her belongings. “Does anyone know you live here?”

“Stop!” Amber’s already shrill voice went up several octaves. “Are you fucking insane you stupid, mega-cunt? I’ll-I’ll-” Amber rage diffused into sheer panic. “I’ll call the cops!”

“I already did.” My smile broadened. “They’re on their way to escort a crazy trespasser off my property.”

All the makeup in the world couldn’t keep Amber’s face from turning as pale as a ghost when I lit the book of matches and threw it on the fuel-soaked pile. The beautiful flash of bright orange fire consumed the fine cottons, blackened the exotic wools and melted through the plastics, and silks. Thousands of dollars worth of manipulated appreciation gone in an instant.

Now all I had to do was get my damn shipment of aloe back and save my business.