Chapter 2
Marcus reached for the will again.
This time, Evelyn let him take it.
Her hands were shaking so badly that she could barely keep them at her sides.
I watched my brother unfold the page.
His eyes moved slowly across the first paragraph.
Then he stopped.
"What?"
Evelyn looked away.
Marcus read the sentence again.
I knew exactly what he'd found.
Arthur had left the family home to me.
Not jointly.
Not temporarily.
To me.
Subject to a limited provision allowing Evelyn time to relocate and certain rights that would have to be administered according to the estate documents.
But the second name was the real shock.
Marcus looked up.
"Who's Grace Holloway?"
Evelyn shut her eyes.
I felt my stomach twist.
That name had haunted me for years without my knowing it.
Arthur had mentioned Grace only once.
Three days before he died.
He'd said she was someone who deserved an apology from our family.
I assumed she was an old business partner.
Marcus read farther.
"Twenty-five percent of the remaining estate assets to Grace Holloway, daughter of Lorraine Holloway..."
He stopped.
Lorraine.
My mother's name.
Then he looked at me.
"Nia, is this your mother's family?"
I nodded slowly.
"Grace is my mother's younger sister."
Marcus blinked.
"Your aunt?"
"Yes."
Evelyn slammed her palm against the counter.
"This is nonsense!"
I turned toward her.
"Why?"
"Arthur never would have given money to that woman!"
Marcus looked confused.
"What did Grace do?"
Evelyn's face tightened.
"She knows what she did."
My heart began racing.
Because those were almost the exact words Evelyn used whenever I asked why my mother's relatives had disappeared from my life.
When I was nine, I asked whether I could visit Aunt Grace.
Evelyn told me Grace had abandoned us.
When I was twelve, I found an old birthday card from her.
Evelyn ripped it in half.
When I turned sixteen, I asked Arthur whether my mother's sister was still alive.
He said he didn't know where she lived.
Now I wondered whether that had been true.
Marcus turned another page.
"There's a letter attached."
Evelyn lunged toward him.
"Don't read that!"
He stepped back.
"Mom!"
She grabbed his sleeve.
"Please."
The desperation in her voice startled me.
I'd never heard Evelyn beg.
Marcus gently freed his arm.
"Why are you afraid of Dad's letter?"
She said nothing.
He unfolded the page.
Arthur's handwriting filled the top.
My throat tightened.
Even after his death, seeing my father's handwriting made me want to cry.
Marcus began reading aloud.
"To my children, Nia and Marcus..."
He paused.
I stared at him.
Arthur had called us both his children.
Marcus swallowed.
Then continued.
"I have spent too many years allowing silence to become a form of cruelty in this house."
Evelyn turned away.
My eyes filled.
Marcus read on.
"I loved both of you. I was proud to raise both of you. But I failed Nia when I allowed her to believe she had no place in her own family."
I pressed my fingers against my lips.
He knew.
My father knew.
And he'd never stopped it.
That truth hurt more than I expected.
Marcus's voice cracked.
"I cannot undo the years I lost. But I can finally tell the truth about what happened after Lorraine died."
Evelyn suddenly shouted.
"That's enough!"
Marcus lowered the letter.
"Mom, what happened?"
She stared at him.
I waited.
Twenty-four years of questions filled the silence.
Then Evelyn said something that made my knees weaken.
"Grace tried to take Nia away from us."
I frowned.
"What?"
"She wanted custody."
I looked toward Marcus.
He looked equally shocked.
Evelyn continued.
"She said Arthur wasn't capable of raising a little girl alone."
I shook my head.
"That doesn't sound like Aunt Grace."
"You barely knew her!"
I remembered Grace's warm smile.
Her bright scarves.
The way she let me help bake cookies.
She hadn't seemed cruel.
She'd seemed loving.
But memories from childhood can be incomplete.
I needed facts.
I looked at Marcus.
"Keep reading."
He unfolded the letter again.
Arthur had written that Grace never tried to steal me from him.
She had offered to help after Lorraine's death.
She wanted to keep me connected to my mother's family.
She brought meals.
Helped with school.
Sat with me when I cried.
And Evelyn hated it.
My stepmother had apparently seen Grace's presence as a threat to her authority.
Arthur wrote that a terrible argument occurred shortly after their wedding.
Documents disappeared.
Accusations were made.
And Grace was told she would never see me again.
Marcus stopped reading.
I stared at Evelyn.
"You told me she abandoned me."
Evelyn's chin trembled.
"She caused problems."
"Did she abandon me?"
No answer.
I stepped closer.
"Evelyn."
Her eyes filled.
"Arthur chose his marriage."
The words hit me like another slap.
My father had chosen peace with his wife over protecting my connection to my mother's family.
I looked at his photograph.
For the first time since his death, I felt angry with him.
Deeply angry.
I loved Arthur.
But love didn't erase failure.
Marcus reached for my hand.
"Nia..."
I pulled away.
"Don't."
He looked hurt.
I immediately regretted it.
But I couldn't handle another person trying to soften the truth.
Then Marcus turned another page.
His expression changed again.
"Wait."
He frowned.
"There's something here about Lorraine's property."
I looked up.
"What property?"
He read silently.
Then stared at Evelyn.
"Mom, why does Dad say Nia's inheritance was used to pay for this house?"
My heart stopped.
Evelyn stepped backward.
And suddenly I understood.
May you like
The will wasn't only about who inherited Arthur's home.
It was about who had paid for it.
