Erased, Not Forgotten: Reclaimed

From the back cover

For ten years, Sterling Manor was my world, every brushstroke a prayer to a father who vanished, leaving behind whispers of a hidden masterpiece. I poured my life into its decayed bones, chasing approval he never gave, believing I was restoring our family's legacy.

Then, Sterling, the manor' s owner-the vulture who picked at other people's legacies-announced his fiancée, Lily. He gave her my decade of sacrifice, my meticulous work, as a party favor, publicly humiliating me as "just a restorer" to launch her career.

He stripped me of everything: my credit, my dignity, even my small apartment within those walls. Lily, with a calculated innocence, cemented the lie, painting me as an "intense" threat, a "fired" employee. My name-my only mark on a decade of work-was painted over, erased.

"Just a restorer." The words echoed, burning with the injustice of his betrayal. Was my life wasted chasing a ghost? A legacy that wasn't mine to claim? The truth felt like a bitter pill. But a cold, clear resolve settled within me.

I walked out of that house, but not without my father's hidden sketchbook. It was time for Sterling' s meticulously crafted world to crumble, and for me to reclaim what was truly mine.