The contest window was long gone.
And they would have had to be part of the original probate case.
They weren’t.
They had both signed waivers, disavowing any interest.
Andrew’s smug smile faltered for a second.
He looked at Mr. Peters, who recovered quickly.
“Ah, but this is a new filing,”
Mr. Peters said, holding the papers out to me.
“A family settlement—see? Your mother as co-heir to the original estate.”
“She wasn’t co-heir,”
I interrupted, my voice gaining a thin thread of strength.
“Grandma’s will was specific. It was left to me. You both saw the will.”
“The will you probably tricked her into signing,”
Andrew shouted.
“I was in a different state when she signed it!”
I snapped.
“Andrew,”
I said, the cold anger rising,
“I was in college.”
“Enough,”
Margaret said, stepping forward.
“Hannah, this is how it’s going to be. We are moving forward. This is what’s fair. Andrew deserves his chance.”
“We’re giving you until Friday to clear out your personal things. The movers will be here Saturday. Be reasonable.”
They stood there—the three of them—like a united front of pure greed.
My mother, my brother, and this charlatan.
They were trying to steamroll me, counting on my illness and my old habit of smoothing things over.
I just stared.
I felt the heat of the fever, the ache in my bones, the crushing weight of their betrayal.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to cry.
I wanted to throw them out.
But as I looked at the sloppy formatting on the papers Mr. Peters held, at the way Andrew couldn’t meet my eyes, at the stubborn set of my mother’s jaw, something in me clicked.
I coughed—dry and sharp—and it turned into a laugh.
Weak.
Wheezing.
But a laugh.
They all stared at me.
“What’s so funny?”
Andrew demanded.
I pushed myself off the doorframe, a new icy calm settling over me.
I looked past them through the foyer, into the dining room where my grandfather’s old desk sat.
On it was a simple leather-bound folder.
“Nothing,”
I said.
My voice was quiet, but steady.
“Nothing at all. You just… reminded me of something.”
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