Chapter 2 - The Secret in the Silver Key
The interior of the limousine smelled of expensive leather and old books.
I sat huddled in the heated seat,
the warmth finally beginning to seep into my bones.
My grandmother sat opposite me,
watching me with an expression that was hard to read.
It wasn't exactly pity,
but it was a fierce,
protective kind of sorrow.
"I waited for your call,"
she said softly.
"Your mother told me you would call when you were ready."
I reached for the silver key around my neck,
my fingers still trembling.
"I didn't have a phone,"
I whispered.
"He took everything."
Eleanor nodded,
a grim set to her jaw.
"He took more than that,
my dear."
"He took your mother’s legacy."
She reached into a hidden compartment in the side panel and pulled out a small,
intricately carved wooden box.
It had no keyhole on the outside,
only a small indentation at the top.
"Try it,"
she commanded.
I pressed the silver key into the wood.
There was a soft click,
and the box popped open.
Inside lay a stack of documents and a single,
shimmering diamond ring.
But it was the papers that caught my eye.
They were bank statements from an offshore account,
and a legal document titled 'The Vance-Carter Succession.'
"Your mother was the true heir to the Vance fortune,"
Eleanor explained as the car sped through the dark forest.
"She married your father against my wishes."
"She thought he loved her."
"But when she realized he only loved her money,
she went into hiding."
"She placed the entire estate into a trust for you,
to be unlocked only on your eighteenth birthday."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
"So the house...?"
"The house,"
Eleanor interrupted,
"was bought with Vance money."
"The cars,"
"the watches,"
"the very clothes on his back,"
"all belong to the trust."
"And the trust is now yours."
I looked out the window.
The snow was falling harder,
burying the world in white.
"He told me I was nothing,"
I said,
a single tear falling.
"He said I was a burden."
Eleanor took my hand,
her grip surprisingly strong.
"He is the burden,"
"and tonight,"
"we drop him."
She picked up a satellite phone and spoke a few words to someone on the other end.
"The eviction is served."
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"The demolition crew is five minutes away."
"He will have nothing left but the snow."
