Chapter 2 — My Mother's Secret Letter
Twenty minutes later, no one had left.
The attorney quietly opened the folder himself.
His face drained of color.
"Elias..."
"This isn't the certified trust."
The room fell silent again.
He removed another stack of documents hidden beneath the first.
"This version changes the ownership percentages."
Dean frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The attorney looked directly at me.
"Your mother's original trust divided her commercial properties equally among all three children."
He swallowed.
"This document gives everything to Elias after her death."
Gasps echoed around the room.
I wasn't surprised.
I had suspected it for months.
But suspicion and proof were two very different things.
Then Nora noticed something else.
"There are pages missing."
The attorney slowly nodded.
"There should be an attached personal letter."
"What letter?"
He reached into the bottom of the folder.
A sealed envelope appeared.
Still unopened.
My mother's handwriting covered the front.
To My Children—Only If I Am No Longer Here.
My hands began shaking.
Dean whispered,
"I've never seen that before."
Neither had I.
The attorney carefully broke the seal.
As he unfolded the pages, tears filled his eyes.
May you like
"Your mother knew someone would eventually try to rewrite her wishes."
The first sentence changed everything.
