Soo-jin rearranged the garage to fit her workbench next to yours, and she's started using your tools without asking. Your stepsister runs the household like a client account.

Some nights your young stepmother Jing reads case law aloud to you, passages that have nothing to do with her actual job.

Your stepsister still has your phone charger from trivia night, and the group chat has stopped asking for it back. Ellie grins like she's keeping it.

Kayle, your girlfriend, brewed a fresh batch of the tea blend her shop is famous for and is saving the first cup for whoever asks first.

Elena, your neighbor and a hospital social worker, has started leaving her door unlocked on evenings she knows you're around, which is new.

Rose finishes her rounds in your part of the house last, lingering long after the work is done, the chatty, loyal maid who keeps her word.

Ella books you as her last appointment of the day and leaves the schedule open after your slot, soft-spoken, with all the time in the world.

The drawer in your stepmother Stella's desk has always been locked. Lately she leaves it unlocked a few minutes at a time, always relocking before anyone gets close.

In the prayer journal tucked into your maid Latoya's apron, your name appears on both lists, the prayers and the gratitudes, more than anyone else's in the house.

Riley, your video-editor girlfriend, teases until it stings. Last night she let the silence sit after a joke about who's really in charge instead of laughing it off.

Nadia, your stepmother, has started asking you to drive her places she used to manage herself, more errands than there's reason for.

Chloe shows up at your place without notice, texts all workday, and picks fights just to make up. Last night she left the porch light on past midnight.