Chapter 6: The Second Heir
The knock came again.
Three slow taps.
From inside the wooden box.
Nobody moved.
Alicia stared at it.
Marcus whispered, “That's impossible.””
Vanessa backed away.
“No.””
Alicia looked at her.
“You know what that is.””
“I don't.””
“Then why are you afraid?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I told you I don't know.””
Alicia opened the box wider.
The sound stopped.
Inside the compartment beneath the documents was a thin metal panel.
She touched it.
It moved.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Wait.””
Alicia pulled the panel free.
A small brass cylinder rolled into her palm.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“What?””
Alicia examined it.
It was engraved with the same letter as the key.
*V.*
Marcus stared.
“That wasn't there before.””
“You've seen this?””
“Not this one.””
Alicia placed the brass cylinder beside the key.
There was a faint click.
The cylinder opened.
Inside was a tightly rolled piece of paper.
Alicia unfolded it.
Her grandmother's handwriting.
She read aloud.
“If you are reading this, Vanessa has returned.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Alicia continued.
“She will tell you she wants only what belongs to her.””
Marcus whispered, “Alicia…”
She kept reading.
“She will not tell you why she needs it.””
Vanessa began shaking her head.
“No.””
Alicia looked at her.
“You knew this letter existed.””
“No.””
“Then why are you reacting like that?””
“Because I know what comes next.””
Alicia looked back at the page.
The next sentence was written darker than the others.
“Do not give Vanessa the emerald.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I wasn't going to.””
Alicia looked at her.
“You came into my home wearing it.””
“I needed to know if it still worked.””
“If what still worked?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“The inheritance.””
Marcus shut his eyes.
Alicia turned toward him.
“You knew about an inheritance.””
“I knew there was one.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
Vanessa laughed through her tears.
“You always knew.””
“No.””
“You were there.””
“So were you.””
“I was a child!””
“And so was I!””
The argument stopped.
Alicia looked between them.
“What happened when you were children?””
Neither answered.
She held up the letter.
“My grandmother knew you both.””
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.””
“She knew Vanessa was an heir.””
“Yes.””
“And she hid it.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Marcus stared at the floor.
“Because there were two heirs.””
Alicia's expression changed.
“Two?””
Vanessa looked at her.
“Yes.””
“Who was the other one?””
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“You.””
Alicia went silent.
Marcus whispered, “Your grandmother divided everything.””
Alicia looked around the room.
“The house?””
“The property.””
“The money?””
“Yes.””
“The jewelry?””
Marcus nodded.
“And the emerald?””
Vanessa answered.
“That was supposed to identify the first heir.””
Alicia looked at the ring.
“What do you mean, identify?””
Vanessa wiped her face.
“My grandmother told me the emerald was passed down to the first daughter.””
Alicia frowned.
“But my grandmother had it.””
“Yes.””
“So…”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She wasn't the first daughter.””
Alicia stared.
Marcus said quietly, “Your grandmother was the second.””
The room seemed to tilt.
Alicia looked at the old family photographs.
The faces suddenly felt unfamiliar.
All those years, all those stories.
Her grandmother had never told her about another daughter.
Another branch of the family.
Another heir.
Alicia picked up the birth certificate again.
“Vanessa's mother.””
Vanessa nodded.
“My mother was your grandmother's older daughter.””
Alicia's eyes widened.
“Then Vanessa…”
“Is your cousin.””
Marcus looked down.
Alicia stepped backward.
Her husband.
The woman he had brought into their home.
The woman wearing her grandmother's ring.
Her cousin.
But something still didn't make sense.
“Why did my grandmother warn me not to trust her?””
Vanessa looked at the letter.
“Because she believed my mother had betrayed her.””
“Did she?””
“I don't know.””
“You came here for the inheritance.””
“Yes.””
“And the emerald.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Vanessa's eyes shifted toward the wooden box.
“Because the will isn't complete.””
Alicia looked at the document.
“What?””
Vanessa pointed.
“Look at the seal.””
Alicia examined the final page.
The seal was broken.
But underneath it was another impression.
A second seal.
One she hadn't noticed.
Marcus stepped closer.
“There are two wills.””
Alicia looked at him.
“Two?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Your grandmother wrote one for you.””
Alicia's heart pounded.
“And another for me.””
“Where is it?””
Vanessa looked toward the bookshelf.
“Hidden in this room.””
Alicia scanned the shelves.
“Where?””
Vanessa's eyes landed on the family photograph from Alicia's wedding.
“The picture.””
Alicia took it down.
She turned it over.
Nothing.
She checked the frame.
Still nothing.
Then Marcus whispered, “The back panel.””
Alicia removed it.
A folded document slid out.
She opened it.
The first line made her blood run cold.
*LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF EVELYN COLE — SECOND BENEFICIARY: VANESSA COLE.*
Vanessa stepped closer.
Alicia held the page between them.
Then she noticed the signature.
Her grandmother's.
And beneath it was a witness signature.
A name Alicia knew.
Marcus stared at the page.
“No.””
Alicia looked at him.
“What?””
He pointed to the witness line.
“That isn't possible.””
Alicia read the name.
Her face went pale.
Because the witness had signed the document twenty years ago.
May you like
And according to every family record Alicia had ever seen—
*that person had been dead for twenty-five years.*
