CHAPTER 4 — THE TRUTH INSIDE THE RECORDING
The recording revealed everything.
Vanessa had been planning this for months.
She wanted control of my mother’s money.
Her property.
Her investments.
But there was one thing she didn’t know.
My mother had changed her will.
The house wasn’t going to Vanessa.
It was going to a charity.
A charity for elderly people.
Vanessa found out.
And she became desperate.
“She wanted me gone,” my mother whispered.
I looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
“Don’t apologize for someone else’s cruelty.”
That sentence broke me.
For years, I thought working hard was how I protected my family.
But I was wrong.
Protection wasn’t money.
Protection was being there.
Then Vanessa walked into the room.
She wasn’t smiling anymore.
“You really think you’ve won?”
I turned.
“You’re finished.”
She laughed.
“You have no idea what I know.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What does that mean?”
She smiled.
“I know your mother’s biggest secret.”
Everyone became silent.
My mother’s face went pale.
“Vanessa…”
“What secret?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“The one she never told you.”
My heart started racing.
“What are you talking about?”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Ask your mother why she hid the truth about your father.”
My mother looked away.
And I knew.
There was another secret.
May you like
One that had nothing to do with Vanessa.
But everything to do with me.
