My dear child, if you are reading this, then something has gone wrong, and I never got the chance to tell you in person.
Please forgive me for the silence. I was trying to protect you both.
Something has gone wrong
I glanced up at Lucas.
He nodded gently, encouraging me to keep going.
Your aunt has been taking money from our accounts for years.
Small amounts at first, then larger. Your father and I discovered it eight months ago. We decided not to confront her openly because we knew what she was capable of when cornered.
My throat tightened. I could barely breathe.
I could barely breathe.
So we did the only thing we could. We placed the house, our savings, and a separate account entirely in your name.
Not Lucas’s, not shared. Yours.
Because we knew if anything happened to us, she would swoop in with false claims and empty promises.
She would only stay near Lucas if there was money involved.
And once she realized there wasn’t, she would leave him alone.
I lowered the letter, my eyes burning.
We did the only thing we could.
“They knew,” I whispered. “They knew about her.”
“And gave us everything we need to fight back,” Lucas said.
He pointed to the second envelope.
I opened it.
Inside were the deed to the house, bank statements, and a trust document.
Everything in my name.
The front door creaked.
I thought the worst part was over. I was wrong.
“They knew about her.”
I heard footsteps in the entryway.
“I forgot my scarf,” my aunt called out, already walking toward the living room. “I hope you’re being reasonable about the house, Lucas. Family should stick together on these things.”
I stood up slowly.
Lucas rose with me.
She stopped in the doorway, her eyes flicking from my face to the papers spread across the table.
Things were about to get ugly.
“I forgot my scarf,”
“What’s all this?”
“Sit down,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“Sit down. Please.”
Something in my voice made her comply.
She lowered herself into the chair across from me, her purse still clutched in her lap.
For the first time in eight years, I wasn’t the one on the defensive.
