“You’re making a scene.”
Alyssa laughed.
A bitter, broken laugh.
“A scene?”
She looked around her.
“Mom, you made me spend thirty years believing I was the only girl in this family.”
Vivian’s face hardened.
“You are my daughter.”
“That’s not what I asked for.”
Alyssa’s voice dropped.
“Am I Daddy’s daughter?”
Vivian did not reply.
Alyssa’s lips trembled.
” Mom. “
Still nothing.
“AM I?”
Vivian closed her
eyes.
And that silence was the answer.
Alyssa staggered backwards.
I watched her collapse into the chair.
For the first time in my life, she didn’t seem powerful.
She looked like a little girl.
The same girl who used to stand in the doorway of our childhood bedroom while Vivian told me to sleep on the floor.
The same girl who once told me that Dad loved her more because she was his “real” daughter.
Now she stared at the woman who had taught her to say those things.
Mr. Bennett cleared his throat.
“There’s another problem.”
Everyone looked at him.
“A will does not simply divide the inheritance among the biological children.”
He opened the document.
“Mr. Harper anticipated that someone might try to challenge his paternity decisions or manipulate family members into taking DNA tests.”
Alyssa’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“That means your father changed the
distribution structure.”
He looked at me.
“His estate does not automatically pass to the surviving biological child.”
I felt my stomach clench.
Mr. Bennett continued.
“Mr. Harper has established a trust for Candace Harper.”
Vivian remained perfectly still.
“A trust?”
” Yes. “
” How much ? “
Mr. Bennett did not respond immediately.
He opened another file.
“Before disclosing the amount, I need to explain something.”
He looked at me.
“Your father has spent the last eleven years restructuring his assets.”
I frowned.
” For what ? “
“Because he believed that his wife and Alyssa were trying to isolate you from him.”
Vivian’s face turned red.
“That’s absurd.”
Mr. Bennett calmly replied, “I have correspondence documenting his concerns.”
