I stared at the screen.
A final photograph arrived.
It showed my mother standing outside the Willow Creek property twenty-six years earlier.
Beside her stood Richard Price.
And between them was a small girl.
Me.
I was holding Richard's hand.
All three of us were smiling.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
"THE ONLY HEIR."
My blood turned cold.
I looked at my mother.
“What does that mean?”
She began shaking.
“Emily, please don't listen to them.”
But another message appeared.
*The money was never the real prize.*
I swallowed.
Then the final message came.
*Your father didn't steal the Willow Creek fortune.*
*He hid it in your name.*
I stared at the words.
Then I looked at the woman who had raised me.
She was crying silently.
“Mom,” I whispered, “how much money are we talking about?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she walked toward the old cabinet beside the fireplace.
