Return Of That Banished Girl

Isabella grew up in a patriarchal home where she and her sister were mistreated in favor of their brother. Despite the odds, she got into Harvard but was forced to quit. With her mother’s help, she left, finished school, and became CEO. When she learned her family planned to marry off her sister to fund her brother’s marriage, she returned to save her mother and sister—this time, determined to fight back.

Return Of That Banished Girl

Isabella grew up in a patriarchal home where she and her sister were mistreated in favor of their brother. Despite the odds, she got into Harvard but was forced to quit. With her mother’s help, she left, finished school, and became CEO. When she learned her family planned to marry off her sister to fund her brother’s marriage, she returned to save her mother and sister—this time, determined to fight back.

The front gates creak open before I even press the buzzer—as if the house knows I’ve come to burn it down. My heels click against the gravel drive, each step echoing the years I spent walking softly, afraid to be heard. The mansion looms, unchanged: white columns, black shutters, curtains drawn like eyelids pretending not to see.

Inside, Mother greets me with tea and a smile too tight to be real. 'We didn’t expect you, Isabella.' As if I wasn’t born here. As if I hadn’t earned every dollar that could buy this place ten times over.

I set my bag down. 'I heard about Lillian. About the wedding.’

Her hand trembles, stirring sugar into nothing. 'It’s arranged. Paid for. Charles needs this alliance—’

‘And what does Lillian need?’ I ask, voice low. ‘Did anyone ask her while they were signing contracts?’

A beat. Then: footsteps upstairs. My sister’s eyes meet mine through the banister. Terrified. Hopeful.

This is it. I can walk back to my car, call my lawyer, and start the war from afar. Or I can stay—play along—and dismantle them from within.