Chapter 2: She Already Knew
Part 2 ⬇️
The room went completely still.
Even the child in my arms stopped crying.
Every face at that table was frozen — aunts, cousins, Richard's friends — all of them staring at me like I had just pulled a pin from something they couldn't stop.
Richard recovered first.
He straightened his jacket and let out a short, cold laugh.
"You've lost your mind, Emma."
"Have I?" I kept my voice steady.
"Then explain why my mother's name is still on the deed."
The color drained from his face.
Daniel stepped forward fast.
Too fast.
He grabbed my arm and leaned close, his voice dropping to a hiss.
"Where did you see that?
Who showed you that document?"
I looked at him — this man who had called himself my brother for thirty years — and felt nothing but ice.
"She left it for me," I said.
"She left everything for me.
You both knew."
From the far end of the table, Richard's wife stood up slowly.
Her napkin fell to the floor.
She was looking at her husband with an expression I had never seen on her face before.
Not shock.
May you like
Recognition.
She already knew.
