Chapter 5 The Will They Hid

"You were never the heir, Ava." Ava froze. The words didn't come from a stranger they came from her aunt Marlene, her father's only sister and the executor of his estate. She had driven two hours without stopping, the old contract from her mother still in her bag. Her mind was racing, her heart in her throat. She wasn't sure what she was searching for truth, maybe hope but this? This wasn't it. "What do you mean I wasn't the heir?" Ava asked, her voice barely steady as she sat on the plastic covered couch in her aunt's cluttered living room.

Marlene let out a deep sigh and set her teacup down. "Your father didn't trust Ethan. And after Talia disappeared... he rewrote his will. Quietly." Ava stiffened. "Rewrote it for who?" Marlene met her eyes. "Talia." Silence. Ava's chest tightened. "You're joking." "I'm not," Marlene said softly. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a manila envelope. "This is the version no one saw but me and the attorney your father fired the week before he died. Your mother locked away the official version and told me to stay quiet. But I couldn't destroy this." Ava opened the envelope with trembling hands. Inside was a scanned copy of her father's final will dated, signed, notarized. Eighty percent of his estate including the house, accounts, and shares was left to Talia Monroe. The wording read: "for reasons of personal obligation and rectification." Ava's name only appeared once, in a cold, distant paragraph at the end: a modest allowance for basic support. Ava's voice came out hollow. "He left everything to her?" "She visited him," Marlene said quietly. "Said she wanted to make things right. That she had something to offer." "What did she offer?" Ava's voice cracked. Marlene hesitated. "A child. Yours. Or hers. Or theirs. I honestly don't know. But your father's notes said: 'The debt is paid.'" Ava's vision blurred. Everything she thought she knew her childhood, her marriage, her motherhood felt like a script someone else had written. "Did you know this whole time?" she whispered. "I suspected," Marlene admitted. "But I thought you were happy. I didn't want to be the one to take that away." Ava stood quickly, her anger boiling over. "This isn't about happiness. This is about truth. And everyone around me chose lies." She grabbed her bag, heading for the door. "Where's the lawyer who helped draft this?" "Gone," Marlene said. "Disappeared two days after your father died." "Convenient," Ava muttered bitterly. Marlene followed her. "Don't go chasing ghosts, Ava. Sometimes it's better to let the past go. You still have the family name. That's something." Ava turned. "They can have the name. I want what's real." She stepped into the hallway and pulled out her phone. Her fingers typed fast, "Talia Monroe inheritance fraud." She didn't expect results. But one article popped up dated eight years ago. Sealed court files. Plaintiff: Talia Monroe Defendant: Ethan Grant Lennon Case: Custody petition over minor child. Petitioner claims deception in biological parentage. Case dismissed and withdrawn. Ava's stomach turned. Talia had already tried to take Noah once. And now she was back with better timing and a cleaner plan. Ava took a screenshot and opened a new message to Ethan. You lied. About her. About Noah. About the will. But before she could hit send, another message appeared from an unknown number: "If you're reading this, the game has begun. Check your father's safe. The real secret is still inside." Ava's fingers went cold. There was another secret. One no one had told her. And now, she had no choice but to find it.