Chapter 4
I stared at the paper in Grandma's hand.
"What's wrong with the signature?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Daniel took the document and laid it on the table.
He placed it beside Grandpa's genuine letter.
Then he pointed toward the signatures.
"Look carefully."
I leaned closer.
Grandpa always signed his name with a large, looping M.
The second half of his name was smaller.
He sometimes added a little line beneath Bennett.
On Grandma's document, the letters looked stiff.
Almost copied.
I frowned.
"That doesn't look like Grandpa's writing."
Claire crossed her arms.
"Of course it does."
Daniel remained calm.
"We'll need to authenticate it."
Grandma laughed sharply.
"You're making accusations at my husband's funeral?"
Adrian stepped beside me.
"Nobody is accusing anyone without evidence."
Claire glared at him.
"You stay out of this."
He didn't move.
Daniel examined the document again.
I looked toward the top.
It was titled:
EMERGENCY GUARDIANSHIP AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE.
My heart began racing.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel looked at me.
"It appears to authorize Claire to make certain decisions concerning your care and property."
I frowned.
"Grandma already takes care of me."
He nodded.
"But this document goes further."
I looked at Claire.
"How?"
Daniel hesitated.
"It appears to give her control over certain trust distributions and to restrict contact with your father."
I felt sick.
"Grandpa would never do that."
Grandma turned toward me.
"You don't know everything about your grandfather."
My eyes filled.
"I know he loved me."
She snapped.
"Love doesn't make someone perfect!"
I flinched.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Don't speak to her like that."
Grandma laughed bitterly.
"Now you're going to pretend to be her father?"
His face tightened.
"I am her father."
"You weren't here."
He took a slow breath.
"Because you kept me away."
Claire looked toward Daniel.
"Tell him to stop."
Daniel shook his head.
"Claire, we need to verify this document before anyone relies on it."
I looked at Grandpa's photograph.
The room felt like it was spinning.
For three days, I'd been trying to understand how to live without him.
Now people were arguing about whether he'd signed away control of my life.
I couldn't take it.
I ran toward the hallway.
Adrian called my name.
I kept going.
I pushed through a side door and stepped into the garden behind the memorial hall.
The air was cool.
White flowers lined the pathway.
I sat on a wooden bench and buried my face in my hands.
I didn't know what to believe anymore.
Grandma said Grandpa had changed his mind.
Daniel said the document looked suspicious.
Adrian said he'd spent years trying to find me.
And Grandpa was gone.
He couldn't explain.
He couldn't tell me whom to trust.
I started crying harder.
A few minutes later, the door opened.
Adrian stepped outside.
He stopped several feet away.
"Maya?"
I wiped my face.
"I'm sorry."
He frowned.
"For what?"
"For running away."
He sat at the opposite end of the bench.
"You don't need to apologize for being overwhelmed."
I looked at him.
He smiled sadly.
"Today is already hard enough."
I stared at my hands.
"Do you really want me?"
His face changed.
"Sweetheart."
I swallowed.
"Grandma always says I'm difficult."
Adrian shook his head.
"You're thirteen."
"She says I ask too many questions."
He smiled gently.
"Then we have something in common."
I looked up.
He continued.
"Your mother used to tell me I asked too many questions too."
I laughed weakly.
He reached into his jacket.
Then he removed a small photograph.
It showed Mommy sitting on a park bench.
She was holding a baby wrapped in a yellow blanket.
Me.
My breath caught.
"That's me?"
Adrian nodded.
"You were three months old."
I touched the picture.
Mommy was smiling.
Not the tired smile in the few photographs Grandma kept.
A bright smile.
The kind that made her whole face glow.
I stared at Adrian.
"You were there?"
He nodded.
"I took that picture."
My chest tightened.
"Then why did Grandma say you left before I was born?"
His eyes filled.
"Because that wasn't true."
I felt sick.
Adrian continued.
"Your mother and I weren't married. We had disagreements about where to live and how to raise you."
I nodded.
"But we both loved you."
My throat tightened.
"What happened?"
He looked toward the flowers.
"Jasmine moved back to Atlanta when you were almost one. We agreed I would visit and help support you."
I listened carefully.
"I did that until you were nearly three."
I frowned.
"I don't remember."
"You were little."
He smiled sadly.
"I used to take you to the park. You loved feeding ducks."
I stared at him.
Then a memory flashed.
A man lifting me onto his shoulders.
A pond.
A bright yellow ball.
I couldn't tell whether it was real or something I'd imagined.
Adrian continued.
"Then your grandparents moved, and my calls stopped reaching Jasmine."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"At first, I thought she'd changed her number."
He swallowed.
"Then I learned Claire was controlling most of the contact."
My stomach tightened.
"Did Grandpa know?"
Adrian looked pained.
"I don't think he understood how much was being hidden."
I looked toward the memorial hall.
"Grandpa would've helped."
"I believe that."
For a moment, we sat quietly.
Then Adrian said something I hadn't expected.
"Maya, you don't have to decide where you want to live today."
I looked up.
"What?"
"You're grieving. You've just learned a lot. We need to take this slowly and make sure you're safe."
I felt tears rise.
Nobody had asked me what I needed in weeks.
I whispered, "Can I still see you?"
He smiled.
"Absolutely."
"Even if Grandma gets mad?"
His expression became serious.
"We'll handle that with the proper people helping us."
I nodded.
Then I leaned against him.
He wrapped an arm around me.
I closed my eyes.
For a few minutes, the world felt quiet.
When we returned inside, Daniel was speaking with Aunt Renee.
Grandma was standing near the entrance.
Her face looked furious.
Daniel approached us.
"Adrian, Maya, we need to discuss next steps."
My stomach tightened.
"Am I in trouble?"
He shook his head.
"No, sweetheart."
He explained that the disputed document would need examination.
He also said the existing custody arrangements should be reviewed through the appropriate legal process.
Adrian nodded.
"I'll cooperate."
Claire laughed.
"You think a judge will give her to you?"
Daniel looked at her.
"This isn't about winning a child, Claire."
She went silent.
He continued.
"It's about Maya's welfare."
I felt Adrian squeeze my hand.
Then Aunt Renee approached.
Her eyes were red.
"Maya, can I speak with you?"
I hesitated.
She looked ashamed.
"I owe you the truth."
We moved to a quieter corner.
Renee took a shaky breath.
"Your grandmother told me your father didn't want contact."
I stared at her.
"You believed her?"
"At first."
My chest tightened.
"And later?"
She lowered her eyes.
"I started seeing letters."
I froze.
"What letters?"
"Letters Adrian sent to the house."
My stomach dropped.
"To me?"
She nodded.
I felt tears rise.
"What happened to them?"
Renee began crying.
"Claire took them."
I stared at her.
"Did you know?"
She nodded.
"I saw her lock them away."
My voice cracked.
"And you didn't tell me?"
Renee covered her mouth.
"I was afraid of her."
I stepped backward.
I couldn't breathe.
More letters.
More years.
More people who had chosen silence.
Then Renee whispered something that changed everything.
"I know where she kept them."
I stopped.
"Where?"
Renee looked toward Grandma.
"Inside the locked cabinet in your grandfather's study."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The cabinet Grandma had forbidden me to touch.
The cabinet Grandpa used for his important papers.
I looked at Adrian.
Then at Daniel.
"Can we go there?"
Daniel's expression became serious.
"We need to handle this carefully."
But I barely heard him.
Because I suddenly understood why Grandma had kept that cabinet locked.
May you like
It wasn't protecting Grandpa's secrets.
It was protecting hers.
