Chapter 2: The Warning
The silence was worse than shouting.
Alicia kept the will pressed against her chest.
Vanessa stood across from her, one hand hovering near the emerald ring.
Marcus looked between them.
“Vanessa?””
Nothing.
“Vanessa, answer her.””
Vanessa slowly lowered her hand.
“I don't know what she's talking about.””
Alicia gave a short, humorless laugh.
“You just tried to grab a twenty-year-old will out of my hands.””
“I panicked.””
“Why?””
“Because you accused me of knowing your grandmother.””
“Were you lying?””
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“No.””
Alicia waited.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I never met her.””
Alicia looked at the handwritten warning again.
“Then why is your name here?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I expect you to believe what you can prove.””
Marcus stepped between them.
“Okay. Both of you need to calm down.””
Alicia looked at him.
“You brought her into our house.””
Marcus swallowed.
“Yes.””
“With a suitcase.””
“Yes.””
“While asking me for a divorce.””
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.””
“And now she's wearing my grandmother’s ring.””
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
“I didn't know she had it.””
Vanessa snapped toward him.
“You knew exactly what it was.””
“I knew it was an emerald ring.””
“You knew whose it was.””
Marcus said nothing.
Alicia's eyes narrowed.
There it was.
Another lie.
She placed the will carefully on the coffee table.
“Marcus.””
He looked at her.
“Tell me the truth.””
“I am.””
“No.””
Her voice was still quiet.
“That is the problem.””
Marcus stared at the floor.
Alicia pointed toward the ring.
“Where did she get it?””
Vanessa answered before Marcus could.
“It was given to me.””
“By whom?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“I can't tell you.””
Alicia's expression tightened.
“Why?””
“Because it isn't your business.””
Alicia stared at her.
Then she looked down at the will.
“Interesting.””
“What?””
“My grandmother left instructions about people she didn't trust.””
Alicia tapped the handwritten line.
“And you refuse to tell me who gave you her ring.””
Vanessa's face went pale.
Marcus noticed.
“Vanessa.””
She turned toward him.
“What?””
“You told me this was supposed to be simple.””
Alicia's head snapped toward them.
Marcus immediately realized what he'd said.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Marcus.””
“What did you mean by that?”” Alicia asked.
“Nothing.””
“You said it was supposed to be simple.””
Marcus rubbed both hands over his face.
“Alicia, I didn't know about any of this.””
“Then why does Vanessa think you did?””
He had no answer.
Alicia picked up the will.
She studied the handwriting.
Her grandmother had written countless notes in the same looping script.
Grocery lists.
Birthday cards.
Little reminders taped to Alicia's childhood bedroom door.
But this sentence was different.
It wasn't sentimental.
It wasn't casual.
It sounded like an instruction given to someone who might one day need protection.
Alicia's eyes moved to the date at the bottom.
Twenty years earlier.
She looked at Vanessa.
“You weren't even living here twenty years ago.””
Vanessa said nothing.
“Were you?””
“No.””
“Where were you?””
Vanessa's eyes flicked toward the family photographs.
“I don't remember.””
“You don't remember where you lived?””
“I was young.””
“How young?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Eleven.””
Marcus stared at her.
Alicia noticed.
“You were eleven?””
“Yes.””
“And my grandmother knew your name?””
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
“I told you. I don't know.””
Alicia stepped closer.
“You're wearing her ring.””
Vanessa backed away.
“You keep saying that.””
“Because you keep pretending it means nothing.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with sudden anger.
“You don't know anything about me.””
“Then tell me.””
“I don't owe you an explanation.””
“You walked into my home with my husband.””
Vanessa's face tightened.
“And your husband made a choice.””
Alicia looked at Marcus.
He couldn't meet her eyes.
That hurt more than the words.
She picked up the wooden box again.
Something rattled inside.
Alicia stopped.
“What was that?””
Marcus frowned.
“What?””
She turned the box upside down.
A tiny brass key slid into her palm.
Vanessa suddenly moved.
“Don't.””
Alicia looked up.
Vanessa's voice was barely audible.
“Don't use that.””
Alicia stared at the key.
Then at her.
“How do you know what it does?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Vanessa, what is going on?””
She shook her head.
“I can't.””
Alicia walked to the bookshelf.
“There are family records in here.””
She began pulling books aside.
Marcus watched nervously.
“Alicia, stop.””
“Why?””
“I don't think your grandmother wanted you digging through this.””
“My grandmother is dead.””
The room fell silent.
Alicia pulled out an old leather-bound album.
Dust floated through the bright light.
She opened it.
Photographs.
Birthdays.
Family gatherings.
Old Christmas mornings.
Then she reached a page that had been carefully torn.
Only the corners remained.
Alicia touched the ragged edge.
Someone had removed a photograph.
She looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa was staring at the empty space.
“You know what was here.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“No.””
“You do.””
“I said no.””
Alicia took another step.
“Then why are you crying?””
Vanessa wiped her cheek quickly.
“I’m not.””
“You are.””
Marcus whispered, “Vanessa…”
She turned toward him.
“You promised me.””
Marcus went pale.
“What did I promise?””
Vanessa realized her mistake.
Alicia's eyes sharpened.
“Promised her what?””
Nobody answered.
Then Alicia noticed something beneath the torn photograph.
A handwritten date.
And beneath it, three words:
*ASK ABOUT VANESSA.*
Alicia slowly turned the page.
Something had been written on the back.
Her grandmother's handwriting.
But this time, it wasn't a warning.
It was a name.
Alicia read it aloud.
May you like
“Marcus Cole.””
Marcus stopped breathing.
