Chapter 3: The Envelope
Nia's hand remained suspended in the air.
“My mother?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Arthur's expression changed instantly.
“Give me the bag.””
Vanessa pulled it against her body.
“No.””
Arthur took one slow step forward.
“Vanessa.””
“You don't understand.””
“Then help me understand.””
“I can't.””
Nia stared at her.
“You just said my mother's name.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with something Nia couldn't identify.
Fear, maybe.
Or guilt.
Nia stepped closer.
“What does that envelope have to do with Mom?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You need to leave this alone.””
Nia gave a small, disbelieving laugh.
“You threw me out of my own house ten minutes ago, and now you're telling me what I can leave alone?””
“Nia—”
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
“You don't get to do that.””
Arthur gently took the deed from Nia's hands and placed it on the table.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“Give me the envelope.””
“I said no.””
“Why?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
Arthur's eyes hardened.
“Because you're afraid of what's inside?””
Vanessa's silence was enough.
Nia reached again.
This time Vanessa moved backward.
The handbag struck the wall.
The envelope slid free.
It landed on the floor.
Nia looked down.
The paper was thick.
Cream-colored.
Old.
Her name was handwritten across the front in dark blue ink.
Her mother's handwriting.
Nia knew it instantly.
Her knees almost gave out.
“No…”
She crouched.
Arthur caught her shoulder.
“Nia.””
She picked up the envelope.
Her thumb traced the handwriting.
The same looping letters from birthday cards.
The same little curve in the capital N.
Her mother had written her name.
But when?
Nia turned it over.
The seal was intact.
“Dad,” she whispered.
Arthur stared at it.
“I've never seen that.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Nia looked at her.
“You have.””
Vanessa didn't respond.
“You've seen this before.””
Still nothing.
Nia stood.
“Where did you get it?””
Vanessa's voice was barely audible.
“Your mother left it.””
“When?””
“Before she died.””
Nia's chest tightened.
“Then why didn't you give it to me?””
Vanessa looked toward Arthur.
That glance told Nia everything.
There was a secret between them.
A secret older than tonight.
Arthur saw it too.
“You knew about this?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I knew there was a letter.””
“You told me there were no letters.””
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
Vanessa's eyes returned to Nia.
“Of what she would tell you.””
The house became completely silent.
Nia looked at the sealed envelope.
“What did she know?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“I don't know.””
“You just said you were scared of what she'd tell me.””
“I was.””
“That means you know something.””
Vanessa wiped her cheek quickly.
“I know your mother didn't trust me.””
Nia stared at her.
“Why?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“Because she thought I wanted this house.””
Arthur's voice became colder.
“Did you?””
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“I wanted security.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“I was your wife!””
“And she was my daughter's mother.””
Vanessa looked at him.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Nia noticed something.
The property-transfer form was still lying open on the table.
She picked it up.
There was a date beside Vanessa's signature.
Three months earlier.
Nia's stomach dropped.
“You tried to transfer the house before tonight.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I didn't complete it.””
“You tried.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“I was going to sell it.””
Nia stared at her.
Arthur slammed his palm onto the table.
“You forged nothing?””
“I didn't forge anything!””
“Then how did you expect a transfer to happen?””
“I had paperwork.””
“What paperwork?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Nia looked at the handbag.
Then at the envelope.
Then at the deed.
Pieces were beginning to connect.
But one piece was missing.
“Dad,” she said slowly, “why would Mom leave the house to me?””
Arthur looked at her.
“Because she knew I wouldn't always be here to protect you.””
Nia's eyes filled.
“What does that mean?””
Arthur's face softened.
“I don't know.””
Vanessa suddenly whispered, “She did.””
Nia turned.
“What?””
Vanessa looked directly at the envelope.
“She knew something was going to happen.””
Arthur went still.
“What did she know?””
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
“She told me…”
Her voice broke.
“She told me that if anything happened to her, I should never let you open that letter.””
Nia's fingers tightened around the envelope.
“Why?””
Vanessa looked at her.
“Because once you read it, there would be no going back.””
Nia stared at the seal.
Her mother's handwriting.
Her mother's warning.
And a secret Vanessa had apparently spent years trying to bury.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Nia, wait.””
But Nia had already found the edge of the seal beneath her thumb.
She began to lift it.
May you like
And before the paper opened, Vanessa whispered—
“Your father isn't the man your mother thought he was.””
