“That girl is arriving today,” my mother said, entering my room without knocking. She never bothered to ask if she was welcome anywhere, assuming that she always was. “Are you prepared?”
“Yes,” I said, looking around at my room. I’d be losing my sanctuary, sharing with the nobody. But I was ready.
“You remember what’s at stake?” she asked, her voice sharp.
I nodded.
She sniffed. “She can lose the easy way or the hard way, but she will lose. Understand? No daughter of mine will lose a penny to some dirty little bastard.”
I nodded once more. “I understand.”
I watched my mother hold her nose in the air, the way she always did when she had set her mind to something. The wheels behind her eyes started turning as if formulating a plan to restore some legacy the family had. I didn’t get it, of course. I never understood her reasoning for most things. But, I understood my own.
Which meant I had my own plan in mind.
Without another word spoken, my mother turned on her heel and left, clicking as she walked down the hallway. I groaned as I lunged for my door and slammed it closed, listening as her footsteps paused just above the stairs. I felt her staring down my door, cursing it for being so daring as to have the last word in a world where she reigned supreme.
Then, I backtracked to my bed and flopped onto my back.
I expected my life to be turned upside down by the information filtering its way in my direction over the past few days, but I honestly wasn’t. Mom always told me about how Dad was a lying, cheating scumbag. The worst of the worst. The biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life. So, it didn’t shock me one bit that he’d gone out and gotten his dick wet with some floozy in a bar and ended up with an illegitimate child. When the man had been living with us, he had constantly reeked of weed and booze. He always had red eyes and couldn’t quite walk a straight line, unless of course, he knew he was about to head out with the guys. Then, he’d suddenly sober up long enough to fill his system with bullshit again.
I really hated my father.
Nonetheless, I was ready. I felt ready to tackle the latest issue my father’s escapades had caused us. Mom seemed to be holding it together enough to put on a brave face for the world, but I knew that within a few days, the entire city where we lived would be alive with whispers.
I guess that’s what happens when you have an important mother.
He’ll never see it coming.
“And she won’t, either,” I murmured to myself.
After listening to Mom finally make her way downstairs, I flipped the lock on my door. I stripped myself of my clothes, leaving a trail from the door to my bathroom before I flicked on the water. Steam filled my favorite room in the house, and I reached for a bundle of eucalyptus to hang just beneath the shower-head. I loved how the steam released the relaxing essence of the sprigs. I adored how it relaxed my body and helped to remind me that there were things in this world worth celebrating, even if my family had singlehandedly become the laughingstock of our entire hometown.
But, as I stood there alone with my own thoughts, a grin crossed my face. Oh, I was ready. I had been born ready. I wouldn’t have been my mother’s daughter if I had been anything less than ready. I already had a plan in mind. I already knew how to get from point A to point B with the least amount of resistance and fighting because while my mother had always been a headliner while inconveniencing everyone around her, I had always been a line worker. I kept my head down; I kept finding ways to become more efficient in the tactics I used to reach my own goals. And as I washed my hair, drawing in the bold scent of eucalyptus through my nose, only one thought crossed my mind.
I’m ready, but we’ll just have to see if she is.
Chapter One
Emma
You wouldn’t think that pulling up to an idyllic country estate, down a road so charmingly lined with trees and clean white fencing, would drop a stone in my gut.
The gray shingled colonial, though large, was not forbidding or imposing. It gave off a feel of subtle luxury, which somehow felt welcoming.
If you didn’t have the memories that I had of it.
Here we go again.
I parked in the circular drive and put a trembling hand to my temple. Was I really considering this? Was I really going to do this to myself after all these years? I parked my car and leaned against my seat, allowing myself a few seconds to talk myself out of the insane idea that had brought me here in the first place. But, I knew the only way I’d end up getting out of the car was if I read that email again, just to remind myself of what had set me on this hellish journey in the first place.
So, I looked at the email I still had pulled up on my phone.
Miss Donahue,
I have completed the necessary arrangements for your arrival on April 1st. Do be prompt. Remember, a stipulation of your father’s will is that you and your sister live together for one full year. That means 365 full days. He was quite clear on that count.
I will be checking in on you and your sister periodically. As the executor, your father trusted me to ensure that everything proceeds smoothly, and I mean to take that seriously.
I am attaching the further stipulations that must be followed in order to receive your inheritance. You have made it clear that you would prefer not to follow your father’s final wishes, but I am sure that he had your and your sister’s best interests at heart. I recommend you go in open-minded, and you will be pleasantly surprised. Remember, one of the stipulations is that you both make a “reasonable effort” in getting along. Any behavior otherwise is grounds to dissolve your inheritance.
Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.
Regards,
Donald Cumberland
Vanguard Investment Management Services
I read it over and over with the voice in my head getting more British by the second. Mr. Cumberland was one of the most proper people I had ever spoken to in my entire life, and his phone call a few days ago that had resulted in this email had taken me by surprise. And while I had been quick to shrug off his musings in the beginning, the sheer amount of the inheritance with my name on it stopped me dead in my tracks.
My entire life would be solved with the kind of money that was on the table.
I mean, what was a girl to do, anyway? It wasn’t as if I had much help in this world. I had worked odd jobs ever since I had turned sixteen to try to help whoever agreed to keep a roof over my head at that point in my life and living paycheck to paycheck had become the gold standard that paced my life. I lived by the bi-monthly pay schedule of most workplaces. I timed my entire life around it: outings with friends, when I could pay bills during certain times of the month. Hell, I even had my grocery shopping days down on my schedule so I wouldn’t go out and buy things I didn’t need.
And this inheritance could change all of that for me.
Other stipulations. I need to find those.
