Chapter 2
My father unfolded the letter with trembling hands.
Vanessa stood beside the doorway, breathing so quickly that I thought she might faint.
I held my little blue gift bag against my chest.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Daddy began reading.
"My precious Maya, if you're holding this letter, I hope you know that nothing in this world could ever make me stop loving you."
My knees weakened.
It was Mommy.
Her words.
Her love.
Her voice seemed to fill the room even though she had been gone for three years.
Daddy swallowed hard and continued.
"I have arranged something special for your future. When you turn eighteen, you will receive the money I have saved for your education and your first home."
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
"Marcus, that's private!"
Daddy ignored her.
"I have placed the money in a trust managed by my attorney, Daniel Carter. Your father knows about the arrangement, and he will help protect it until you are old enough."
My father stopped reading.
He looked confused.
"Daniel Carter?"
Vanessa's fingers tightened around Chloe's shoulder.
Daddy looked down at the next paragraph.
"If anyone tells you this money does not exist, or that I wanted you to have nothing, please ask Mr. Carter to show you the original documents."
He lowered the letter.
"That's impossible."
I touched his arm.
"Why?"
He stared at the page.
"Because Vanessa told me Daniel Carter had retired and closed your mother's estate."
Vanessa gave a nervous laugh.
"Because he did!"
Daddy looked at her.
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Then why did I never receive the final paperwork?"
"You were grieving, Marcus!"
She pressed a hand against her chest.
"I handled everything because you couldn't!"
Daddy's expression changed.
I remembered those days.
Daddy barely ate.
He stopped listening to music.
Sometimes I found him sitting in Mommy's old bedroom, holding her wedding ring.
Vanessa had appeared during that terrible time.
At first, she was kind.
She brought food.
She helped me with school.
She told Daddy he shouldn't have to raise a little girl alone.
Then they got married.
And slowly, everything changed.
I no longer slept with Mommy's blanket because Vanessa called it dirty.
I couldn't keep Mommy's photographs in the living room because they supposedly upset Chloe.
I stopped talking about Mommy because Vanessa said it made Daddy sad.
Now I wondered how many other things she had told us to forget.
Daddy returned to the letter.
"There is something else you must know."
Vanessa took another step.
"Marcus, please."
He read aloud.
"The house where you live was purchased with money from my family. I placed my ownership interest into your trust so that one day you would always have a safe home."
Daddy stared at the paper.
His hand shook.
"The house?"
Vanessa suddenly grabbed my gift bag.
I screamed.
"Give it back!"
She pulled at the bottom lining, searching desperately.
Daddy caught her wrist again.
"Enough!"
Vanessa let go.
Something small fell out.
A folded piece of paper.
It landed near Daddy's shoes.
He picked it up.
I saw a typed document with my name across the top.
And underneath it was a signature.
My father's signature.
Daddy stared.
"I never signed this."
Vanessa said nothing.
He read the heading.
"Authorization for Early Trust Distribution."
He looked at her.
"What is this?"
"It's nothing."
"It authorizes money from Maya's trust to be transferred into an account controlled by you."
"I was going to explain."
"How much money?"
Vanessa's lips moved.
No sound came out.
Daddy raised his voice.
"HOW MUCH?"
Chloe began sobbing.
"Mom, what's happening?"
Vanessa pulled her closer.
"Nothing, baby. Marcus is just confused."
I stared at the document.
I could read the number near the bottom.
$250,000.
I had never seen that much money written anywhere.
Daddy looked as if someone had punched him.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?"
Vanessa began crying.
"We needed it!"
"For what?"
"The bills! The house! Everything!"
Daddy gestured toward the expensive birthday presents.
"You spent eight thousand dollars on a party while my daughter was being dragged out of her own home!"
Vanessa shook her head.
"You don't understand how hard I've worked to keep this family together!"
Daddy reached for his phone.
"I'm calling Daniel Carter."
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't."
He pulled away.
"Why?"
"Because you'll ruin everything!"
Daddy dialed the number printed on the letter.
A man answered after several rings.
"Daniel Carter."
My father swallowed.
"This is Marcus Bennett. I'm calling about my late wife, Olivia."
There was a long silence.
Then the man said something that made Daddy straighten.
"Mr. Bennett? I've been trying to reach you for almost two years."
Daddy closed his eyes.
"What?"
"I sent multiple notices concerning your daughter's trust."
"I never received them."
Another pause.
"Then we have a serious problem."
Vanessa backed toward the staircase.
Daddy watched her.
"Mr. Carter, I found a document authorizing a two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar withdrawal. It appears to have my signature."
The lawyer's voice sharpened.
"Do not let anyone remove that document."
Daddy looked directly at Vanessa.
"Why?"
"Because we've been investigating a possible forgery involving your daughter's inheritance."
Vanessa made a strange choking sound.
Then she turned and ran upstairs.
Daddy shouted after her.
"Vanessa!"
But she didn't stop.
A bedroom door slammed.
I began trembling.
"Daddy, is she going to take Mommy's things?"
He immediately knelt beside me.
"No, sweetheart."
"Promise?"
He looked toward the staircase.
Then back at me.
"I promise."
He called the police.
While we waited, he held my hand and asked Mr. Carter to repeat everything.
The lawyer explained that somebody had attempted to access my trust using documents that looked official.
He had refused the withdrawal while verifying the signatures.
But the person responsible had continued sending paperwork.
Daddy whispered, "She was trying to steal from a child."
I didn't understand all the legal words.
But I understood stealing.
I understood lying.
And I understood that the woman who had told me I deserved nothing had been trying to take something Mommy left for me.
Then we heard a crash upstairs.
A drawer slammed.
Footsteps hurried across the bedroom.
Daddy stood.
"Stay behind me."
He moved toward the stairs.
But before he reached them, Vanessa appeared.
She was carrying a large black suitcase.
And in her other hand was a small wooden jewelry box.
I recognized it immediately.
"That's Mommy's!"
Vanessa stopped.
The box had belonged to my mother.
Inside were her wedding ring, her favorite necklace, and the tiny bracelet she wore when I was born.
Daddy looked at the box.
Then at Vanessa.
"Put it down."
Vanessa smiled through her tears.
"Marcus, if I'm leaving, I'm taking what belongs to me."
I stepped forward.
"That doesn't belong to you!"
Her face hardened.
"You little brat!"
Daddy moved between us.
"Don't you dare."
Vanessa backed toward the staircase.
Then she opened the jewelry box.
And pulled out a small silver key.
She looked at Daddy.
"You want the truth?"
Her smile became cold.
"Then ask yourself why Olivia hid this from you."
Daddy stared at the key.
"What does it open?"
May you like
Vanessa closed her fist around it.
And whispered, "Something that could destroy your perfect memories of your wife."
