Chapter 3
“Put that box down.”
Vanessa stopped moving.
The blue storage box sat beside her feet.
For a moment, she looked almost surprised to see me.
Then her expression turned cold.
“Nia, go back downstairs.”
I walked toward her.
“What's inside?”
“Old paperwork.”
“Mom's paperwork?”
She crossed her arms.
“Things that don't concern you.”
I stopped three feet away.
“My mother left me a letter telling me to find a blue ledger. Now you're dragging a blue box out of her locked study.”
Vanessa's eyes flickered.
“That's a coincidence.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Then open it.”
“No.”
Dad emerged from the study.
“Vanessa, what's going on?”
She immediately changed her tone.
“Marcus, sweetheart, I'm just cleaning out some things that have been taking up space.”
He looked at the box.
“Why now?”
She hesitated.
“Because Nia keeps making accusations.”
Dad stepped closer.
“Open it.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You're taking her side?”
“Open the box.”
Something shifted in his voice.
I had spent years wishing he would sound that certain when Vanessa mistreated me.
Now, hearing it, I almost wanted to cry.
Vanessa bent down and lifted the lid.
Inside were folders, photographs, and a thick blue notebook.
My heart hammered.
I reached for the notebook.
Vanessa grabbed my wrist.
“Don't!”
Dad immediately stepped between us.
“Let her go.”
Vanessa released me.
I picked up the ledger.
The cover was faded navy leather.
Inside, my mother's careful handwriting filled dozens of pages.
There were dates.
Amounts.
Property addresses.
And names I recognized.
One was my father's.
Another belonged to my grandmother.
The third was mine.
Nia Elena Williams.
I stared at the heading.
The Elena Williams Family Trust.
My chest tightened.
“Dad, what's this?”
He took the ledger.
His face went pale.
“I remember Elena talking about creating a trust.”
“What kind of trust?”
He swallowed.
“Your grandfather left her several properties. She wanted to protect them for you.”
Vanessa laughed sharply.
“That doesn't mean Nia owns anything.”
I looked at her.
“How would you know?”
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Dad began turning the pages.
His expression changed with every entry.
The ledger listed three rental houses, a commercial building, and the family home.
Beside each property were handwritten notes about ownership, maintenance, and future distributions.
At the bottom of one page, my mother had written:
Nia receives full beneficial control at twenty-one.
I stopped breathing.
Twenty-one.
I had turned twenty-one four months earlier.
“Dad…”
He looked at me.
I pointed at the sentence.
“What does that mean?”
He read it twice.
Then he looked toward Vanessa.
“Where are the original trust documents?”
She folded her arms.
“How should I know?”
“Vanessa.”
“Marcus, this is ridiculous.”
He held up the ledger.
“Elena made arrangements for Nia. Why was I never told?”
Vanessa scoffed.
“Because your late wife probably changed her mind.”
The words hit me like a slap.
I stepped forward.
“Don't talk about my mother like that.”
She glared.
“Your mother wasn't perfect, Nia.”
“Neither are you.”
Dad raised his hand.
“Enough.”
But this time, he wasn't silencing me.
He was looking directly at Vanessa.
“I want the original documents.”
She laughed.
“Then hire a lawyer.”
“That is exactly what I'm going to do.”
Her smile disappeared.
We carried the box downstairs.
Maya was waiting near the kitchen.
She looked at the ledger in my hands, then at her mother.
“Mom, why are you taking stuff out of the study?”
Vanessa snapped, “Go upstairs.”
Maya flinched.
I noticed.
For years, Maya had enjoyed the privileges Vanessa gave her.
New clothes.
Expensive vacations.
A car promised for her seventeenth birthday.
But she had never looked frightened of her mother before.
Now she did.
I sat at the dining table and opened the ledger again.
Several pages contained references to an attorney named Daniel Brooks.
I took out my phone.
I searched his name.
Within minutes, I found a law office in downtown Charlotte.
Brooks & Associates.
Estate Planning and Property Law.
There was a photograph of a man in his sixties standing in front of the office.
I showed Dad.
“Do you know him?”
He nodded slowly.
“Elena trusted Daniel. He handled her father's estate.”
“Then I'm calling him.”
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“You cannot contact a lawyer about family property without your father's permission.”
I stared at her.
“I'm an adult.”
“Not when you're living under my roof.”
Dad stood.
“Vanessa, stop.”
She turned toward him.
“You're going to let her ruin everything?”
His expression hardened.
“What exactly is there to ruin?”
Vanessa looked away.
I dialed the number.
A receptionist answered.
I explained that I was Elena Williams's daughter and had found documents referring to a family trust.
There was a long pause.
Then the receptionist asked me to hold.
A minute later, an older man's voice came through.
“Nia?”
My throat tightened.
“Yes?”
“This is Daniel Brooks.”
“Hello, sir.”
He sounded emotional.
“I've been trying to reach you.”
I sat straighter.
“What?”
“For several months. We sent letters to your home after your twenty-first birthday, but nobody responded.”
I looked at Vanessa.
She had gone completely still.
“What letters?”
“The notices regarding your mother's trust.”
My hands trembled.
“I never received anything.”
Daniel sighed.
“Then something is very wrong.”
Dad leaned closer.
“Can you come tomorrow?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Nia, I need to ask you something first.”
“Yes?”
“Are you somewhere safe?”
The question frightened me.
I glanced at Vanessa.
“Why wouldn't I be?”
He went silent.
Then he said something that made my blood turn cold.
“Because according to the documents filed last month, you signed away your inheritance and authorized your stepmother to act on your behalf.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
“I never signed anything.”
May you like
Daniel's voice became grave.
“Then we may be dealing with fraud.”
