Chapter 7 - The Amended Will
Olivia stared at her phone screen in horror, her thumb scrolling frantically through the legal text of the email.
"What does it say?" I demanded, leaning over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the glowing display.
"She didn't just shorten the deadline," Olivia breathed, her voice cracking. "She removed the thirty-day limit entirely. Instead... she gave us twelve hours."
"Twelve hours?" I repeated, the blood rushing in my ears. "To do what?"
"To choose," Olivia read aloud, the words tumbling out in a panicked rush. "The remaining heirs must present themselves at the main estate library by midnight. If both of us arrive together, the estate is split. If only one arrives, that person takes the entire twenty-eight million dollars."
Clara Vance let out a low, raspy chuckle from across the room, rocking slowly back and forth.
"The old woman is still pulling the strings from her grave," Clara muttered, shaking her white head. "She wants to see if greed is stronger than the bond you built over eighteen years."
I looked down at the manila folder in my hands, then across at Olivia.
The tension in the room shifted instantly. The shared trauma of discovering our fabricated childhood was suddenly overshadowed by a massive, life-altering sum of money—and the sudden realization that we were now direct competitors.
"Olivia, you can't seriously be thinking of locking me out," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Why shouldn't I?" Olivia snapped, standing up abruptly and dusting off her coat. "Daniel is arrested, our parents were actors in a multi-million-dollar psychological experiment, and we don't even share DNA! What loyalty do we owe each other?"
"We owe each other the truth," I retorted, stepping up to her. "Grandmother didn't just want to test our greed; she wanted to see if we could break the cycle of deception she started."
"Truth doesn't buy a new life, twenty-eight million dollars does," Olivia replied coldly, turning toward the apartment exit.
She didn't look back as she stormed down the hallway, her boots echoing against the concrete steps.
I stood frozen for a moment, the heavy manila folder clutched in my grip.
Clara watched me leave with a cryptic smirk. "Tick-tock, little orphan. Midnight is approaching fast."
I rushed out of the building into the biting wind, flagged down a taxi, and ordered the driver to take me straight back to the grand estate.
During the twenty-minute drive through the rain-slicked city streets, my mind raced through every interaction I had ever had with my grandmother.
Her strange questions. Her piercing gaze. The way she always watched me from the top of the grand staircase.
When the taxi pulled up to the wrought-iron gates of the estate, I saw Olivia's car already parked in the driveway, its headlights cutting through the darkness.
I paid the driver, threw my coat hood over my head, and ran up the stone steps toward the heavy oak front door.
The heavy front door was unlocked, pushed slightly ajar.
I stepped inside the grand foyer, the house dead silent except for the grandfather clock ticking heavily in the corner.
"Olivia?" I called out into the dim hallway.
No answer.
I walked toward the back of the house, heading straight for the private library where grandmother's desk sat.
The library doors were wide open, casting a warm pool of amber light across the hardwood floor.
I stepped inside, and my breath caught in my throat.
Olivia was standing by the mahogany desk, holding a heavy golden fireplace poker, staring in sheer terror at a figure sitting in grandmother's high-backed leather chair.
May you like
The chair slowly spun around.
A woman I had never seen before smiled warmly at us, holding a glass of scotch in her hand.
