Chapter 4: The Family Turns
By noon, the whole family knew.
My phone exploded.
Some believed me.
Most did not.
“She’s your aunt.”
“She raised you.”
“Family matters should stay inside the family.”
Then I sent them the video.
The calls stopped.
One by one, the messages changed.
I’m sorry.
We didn’t know.
Gloria lied to us.
But the worst message came from my cousin, Mark.
You should check your parents’ old documents. She has been hiding more than this.
That sentence opened a door I was not ready for.
That night, while Lily slept upstairs, I searched the old storage room.
Boxes of my parents’ things sat untouched.
Insurance papers.
Bank records.
Letters.
Then I found a folder with Gloria’s name on it.
Inside were signed checks.
Large ones.
Money transferred from my parents’ estate into Gloria’s account after their death.
My hands went cold.
At the bottom of the folder was a letter from my father.
Daniel must receive full control of the estate when he turns twenty-five.
I was thirty-four.
I had never seen that letter.
May you like
Gloria had not just controlled my home.
She had stolen my life.
