Chapter 4: What She Knew
Nia stopped with her thumb beneath the seal.
The envelope trembled in her hand.
“What did you just say?””
Vanessa's face had gone completely white.
Arthur stepped toward her.
“Choose your next words carefully.””
Vanessa looked at him, then back at Nia.
“Your mother believed you were in danger.””
Nia stared.
“From who?””
Vanessa's lips parted.
Before she could answer, Arthur said, “That's enough.””
“No,” Nia snapped.
Her father froze.
Nia held up the envelope.
“You don't get to tell me that's enough.””
“Nia, you're upset.””
“My mother left this for me.””
“Yes.””
“So I'm opening it.””
Arthur looked at the seal.
Then at Vanessa.
“Maybe we should sit down.””
“No.””
Nia's voice was surprisingly steady.
“I've been sitting down while everyone lied to me for seven years.””
Vanessa flinched.
Nia peeled the seal back.
The paper made a soft tearing sound.
Nobody breathed.
Inside was a single folded sheet.
Nia unfolded it.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Her eyes blurred before she could read the first sentence.
*My dearest Nia,*
Her knees weakened.
She gripped the table.
Arthur moved toward her.
“I'm okay,” she whispered.
Then she continued.
*If you are reading this, then I wasn't able to tell you myself. I need you to understand one thing first: the house is yours. I put it in your name because there are things about this family that I could no longer ignore.*
Nia swallowed.
Arthur's expression changed.
“What does it say?”” he asked.
Nia kept reading.
*Do not sign anything Vanessa gives you. Do not sell the house. Do not transfer it. And most importantly, do not trust anyone who tells you that I wanted you to leave this property.*
Nia slowly lowered the letter.
Her eyes moved to Vanessa.
“You knew.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I knew part of it.””
“What part?””
“I didn't know she wrote that.””
“But you knew she was afraid.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Because your mother found financial records.””
Arthur stiffened.
“What records?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“You know.””
“I don't.””
“Yes, you do.””
Arthur's jaw tightened.
Nia looked between them.
“What records?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Money was disappearing.””
Arthur stared at her.
“From where?””
“The family accounts.””
Nia's stomach twisted.
“How much?””
Vanessa looked down.
“Enough.””
“Enough isn't a number.””
“Almost three hundred thousand dollars.””
Nia's mouth fell open.
Arthur shook his head.
“That money was accounted for.””
“Not all of it.””
“You're lying.””
“Am I?””
Vanessa's voice suddenly sharpened.
“You think I wanted your mother to die? You think I wanted this mess?””
Nia recoiled.
“Why are you talking about my mother dying like that?””
Vanessa immediately looked away.
Arthur stepped forward.
“Vanessa.””
She covered her mouth.
Nia caught it.
The hesitation.
The fear.
“You know something about what happened to her.””
“No.””
“You hesitated.””
“Because I was scared!””
“Of what?””
Vanessa looked at Arthur.
“Of him.””
Arthur went completely still.
Nia stared at her father.
“Dad?””
Arthur's voice was quiet.
“Vanessa, leave.””
“No.””
“Leave this house.””
“I have nowhere to go.””
“That stopped being my concern when you tried to steal my daughter's property.””
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
“I didn't steal anything.””
“You attempted to.””
“I was trying to protect myself!””
“From what?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Nia unfolded the letter again.
There was more beneath the first paragraph.
She read.
*There is a safe deposit box.*
Her heart jumped.
She read the next line.
*The key is somewhere you would never think to look.*
Nia turned the page.
Nothing else.
She checked the back.
Blank.
“That's it?””
Arthur nodded slowly.
“Apparently.””
Nia looked at the handwriting.
Her mother had hidden something.
A key.
A safe deposit box.
Financial records.
And a warning about Vanessa.
Then Nia remembered something.
A tiny brass key she'd seen years ago.
She looked toward the staircase.
“Mom's old sewing room.””
Vanessa's face changed.
Nia saw it.
“You know what I'm talking about.””
Vanessa backed away.
“No.””
“You do.””
“I don't.””
“You just looked terrified.””
Arthur turned toward Vanessa.
“What is in that room?””
“Nothing.””
Nia was already moving.
She crossed the foyer and started up the stairs.
“Nia,” Arthur called.
She kept going.
At the top landing, she passed the framed photograph of her mother.
She stopped for half a second.
Then continued.
The sewing room had been locked since the funeral.
Nia reached the door.
The brass knob was cold beneath her fingers.
She turned it.
Locked.
Behind her, Arthur climbed the stairs.
“Nia.””
She looked back.
“Do you have a key?””
Arthur shook his head.
Vanessa appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Don't open that door.””
Nia looked at her.
“Why?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Because that's where your mother kept the last thing she ever discovered.””
Nia turned back to the locked door.
Then she heard a faint metallic sound from inside.
A click.
Like something had just been unlocked.
May you like
Nia's hand froze on the knob.
Someone was already inside.
