“Yes,” I replied, my voice laced with suspicion. “I fixed it up, just like Grandma wanted. So Mom could have a fresh start.”
A harsh laugh escaped Emma’s lips, devoid of any humor. “Fresh start, huh? Well, don’t think you’ll get away with it that easily.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded, my confusion morphing into anger.
“I mean,” she began, her voice steely, “that I’m Martha’s granddaughter too. And I deserve a share of the inheritance. You can’t keep this entire house all to yourself!”
My jaw clenched. This woman, who walked out on us fourteen years ago, leaving us with nothing but a mountain of debt, was now claiming my grandma’s house as her own?
First, let me tell you what happened that unfateful day. I was just twelve, but the memory feels etched in my brain like a cruel inscription.
Emma, all of twenty-two and full of dreams, burst into tears one evening while talking to Mom on the phone. Between sobs, she told Mom she needed an emergency appendix operation.
She had no insurance, no money.
Mom, bless her heart, was a mess. The thought of her fatherless daughter in pain was unbearable. Without a second thought, she emptied our entire savings account.
Emma, living with her fiancé in a city a few hours away, promised to pay us back as soon as she recovered. We wired her the money the same night.
Then, silence. Calls went unanswered, texts hung unread.
Panic gnawed at us with every passing day. We contacted the hospital, her apartment complex, and even her friends.
All dead ends.
It turned out Emma hadn’t just vanished; her fiancé had disappeared too. The trail went cold, leaving us with nothing but debt.
For years, we clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, she’d come clean. But Emma, the sister who promised us the world, had vanished without a trace.
We kept searching for her but found no leads.
Since that day, I became obsessed with one thing: securing our future. I buried myself in textbooks, taking on student loans to pay for college.
Every free moment was spent hunched over a computer screen, devouring programming languages. Sleep became a luxury, replaced by the relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Years blurred into one another, punctuated by the relentless click of keyboards and the exhaustion that clung to me like a second skin.
Finally, the day arrived: a job offer from a prestigious software development firm, the salary a dream come true.
It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy at all.
I have worked so hard to be where I am today, and now Emma’s here expecting us to forget everything. How could I just share the inheritance with her?
“Don’t you remember what you did fourteen years ago?” I asked, furious.
Emma’s gaze flickered away. “That has nothing to do with this. I’m here for what’s rightfully mine.”
The audacity of it all made me want to scream.
“Just get out,” I spat.
“Fine,” she said, her voice cold. “But don’t think this is over. I’ll talk to the lawyer, and if you don’t give me what’s fair, I’ll take it to court.”
As the front door slammed shut behind her, a suffocating silence descended upon us.
Mom sank onto the couch, tears welling up in her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, offering what little comfort I could.
A few days later, I invited Emma to meet Grandma’s lawyer.
“There is a small bequest for Emma listed in the will,” he said.
He shuffled through some papers before pulling out a document.
“Here it is,” he continued, pointing to a specific clause. It read:
“To my granddaughter Emma, for reasons known only to me, I leave the sum of one dollar.”
He looked up at Emma, but it wasn’t a pleasant sight. Her jaw was clenched tighter than a vault door, and her hand started shaking so badly.
The color drained from her skin, leaving her ashen. She stood abruptly, the chair clattering behind her.
“What the hell?” she spat, her voice shaking. “I didn’t expect Martha to stoop so low!”
Without another word, she stormed out of the office, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and a heavy silence.
As I watched her disappear down the street, a strange sense of peace settled over me. Grandma, in her own way, had seen through Emma’s act.
The one dollar was a reminder of the consequences of her actions, a final goodbye delivered in a typical Martha way.
I turned back to the lawyer, a small smile playing on my lips. “So, I guess that settles that, doesn’t it?”
Do you think my grandmother did the right thing?
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