Chapter 2
For one second, nobody breathed.
Gene stared at the key like it had bitten her.
Then her hand snapped toward the card.
Brandon reached first.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
That scared Gene more than shouting ever could.
“This is between me and my mother,” she said.
Brandon looked at Holly.
“No. This started when you decided a child needed to be humiliated at Christmas.”
Holly stepped back into my arms.
I felt her trembling.
She had been brave long enough.
I kissed the top of her head.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Gene’s husband, Arthur, pushed his chair back.
“What house?”
Gene turned on him.
“Sit down.”
He did not.
For thirty years, Arthur had obeyed her in public.
That morning, something in his face changed.
“I asked you a question.”
Brandon unfolded the card.
His hands shook once.
Then steadied.
He read aloud.
“Mother, if you are receiving this, it means you ignored Holly again after I warned you. The key belongs to the trust office at 411 Maple Street. The documents inside prove Granddad left the family house to me, not you.”
The dining room erupted.
Aunt Marlene gasped.
A cousin whispered, “What?”
Gene’s face hardened.
“That is a lie.”
Brandon looked at her.
“Then why are you scared?”
Arthur stared at the key.
“My father left this house to you?”
Brandon nodded.
“Before he died.”
Gene slammed her hand on the table.
“He was confused!”
“No,” Brandon said. “He was protecting the family from you.”
Holly buried her face against my sweater.
I looked at Gene.
Three years of insults.
Three years of watching my child swallow hurt because she wanted Brandon’s family to love her.
Now Gene’s own cruelty had opened the door.
Literally.
May you like
Then Brandon said the words that froze the room again.
“And the house is only the beginning.”
