Aunt Cheryl corners Mia in the driveway demanding a third of the house value

Mia Tran, 28, is still reeling from her father's death three months ago when her aunt, Cheryl Tran, 52, shows up at the shared house in Footscray. Cheryl corners Mia in the driveway in front of flatmates and neighbours, demanding a third of the house value. Mia's friend and housemate Priya Kaur, 29, watches from the front porch.

**Cheryl:** You think you can just keep it all? I was there when he was dying. I changed his sheets, I cooked his meals.

**Mia:** Dad left the house to me and Ben. That's what the will says.

**Cheryl:** He promised me. Before he went, he said I'd get something.

**Mia:** You have a text? A voicemail? Anything?

**Cheryl:** He didn't need to write it down. It was a promise.

**Mia:** I'm not giving you a third. The will is clear.

**Cheryl:** You're just like your mother. Greedy, cold, heartless.

**Mia:** Get off the property.

**Priya, 7:02pm:** Mia, you okay? She's gone.

**Mia:** Yeah. Just shaking.

**Priya:** She can't do that. She has no claim.

**Mia:** She doesn't care. She wants it.

Over the next week, Cheryl stops responding to Mia's texts. But she doesn't stay quiet. She calls Mia's cousins, her father's old friends, and even the other flatmates. The shared house atmosphere turns toxic.

**Anonymous flatmate 1:** Cheryl says you're stealing from family.

**Mia:** I'm not stealing. The will left it to me.

**Anonymous flatmate 1:** She said you agreed to give her a share.

**Mia:** I never agreed to anything.

**Anonymous flatmate 2:** She's been saying you're being unreasonable.

**Mia:** She's lying.

**Priya, 9:15pm:** I found something. Cheryl posted on her Facebook page. A screenshot with a friend.

**Mia:** What does it say?

**Priya:** She says she never had a written promise. But she feels 'owed' because she missed out on her own inheritance years ago. Her sister cut her out.

**Mia:** So she's trying to take mine?

**Priya:** That's what it looks like.

Mia screenshots the post. She posts it in the family group chat with a blunt caption.

**Mia, 10:42pm:** This is what she really thinks. No will, no promise. Just greed.

The chat explodes.

**Cousin 1:** Wait, she said that?

**Cousin 2:** I thought Dad promised her something.

**Mia:** He didn't. She's lying.

**Cheryl:** You're twisting it. I cared for him.

**Mia:** You cared for him because you wanted money. Not because you loved him.

**Cheryl:** You're a selfish brat.

**Mia:** And you're a liar.

The next afternoon, Priya calls a house meeting on the front porch. Cheryl arrives, arms crossed.

**Priya:** Cheryl, you have no legal claim. The will is clear. You need to drop this.

**Cheryl:** I just want what's fair.

**Mia:** What's fair is what Dad wanted. And he wanted me and Ben to have the house.

**Cheryl:** Fine. I'll drop it. But I'll never forgive you.

**Mia:** I can live with that.

The truce is fragile. The family rift remains. Mia decides to sell the house and move out, unable to live in a place stained by her aunt's greed and her father's memory twisted into a weapon.