Bittersweet Memories (Off-Limits)

This can’t be right. I look up from the document in my hand, barely comprehending what I just read.

“I’m sorry, Silas,” Michael, my father’s lawyer, says. “Your father left everything to your stepmother. Neither you nor your brother inherited anything at all.”

I rise from my seat and place the document on his desk with trembling hands. “Is this real, Michael? You were there when he signed this?”

He nods, his expression apologetic. When the will was read, I assumed my stepmother was pulling a trick of some sort, but this entire document is in my father’s own handwriting. He’s leaving his entire estate worth millions to Mona.

“Why would he do this? Why would he cut Ryan and me out like that?”

I bite down on my lip, my thoughts reeling. Of course Mona would take care of her own son, but Dad must have known that she’d never do the same for me. It’s no secret that she and I haven’t been on good terms in recent years.

Not since I found out that she’d been cheating with the gardener and told my father about it. That was over three years ago, and though it didn’t seem to affect my father and Mona, my bond with her was severed the moment my father confronted her.

“I don’t know, Silas. I asked him whether he was sure when he came in with this will, and he was. Perhaps he assumed your stepmother would continue to care for you as she has for the last thirteen years.”

I shake my head in disbelief. How could he possibly have believed that? The older I get, the more I see Mona for who she really is. She’s a vicious little bitch, and I thought my father was finally starting to realize it too.

I’m certain he never even would’ve married her if she hadn’t shown up on our doorstep, six months pregnant with Ryan. I know how much my father loved my mother, and at the time I was far too young to understand, but I see it now.

She was just a rebound fling, someone to help ease the broken heart my mother’s passing left Dad with. She was barely twenty at the time and half my father’s age. The older Dad got, the more the age difference worked against them. They had nothing in common, and in the last two years, all they’d ever done was argue. If she’d truly loved him, it’d been a different story, but I don’t think she ever did.

“Can I contest this?”

Michael sighs. “No, Silas. Your father was of sound state of mind when he signed this, and two witnesses were present, including myself. I wish I could give you a different answer, but I can’t.”

I nod and sink back into the seat opposite his desk. Why would Dad do this to me? How could he have trusted his wife to this extent, when the two of them could barely stand each other in recent months?

“I’m sorry, Silas.”

I force a smile onto my face and shake my head. “Thank you for your time,” I tell Michael as I rise to my feet, feeling more lost than ever before. Losing Dad so unexpectedly was hard enough, but this document will ensure that my father isn’t all I’ll lose.

I’m filled with dread as I make my way home, a dozen different scenarios playing through my mind. Mona and I haven’t spoken to each other at all since Dad passed away, and I have no doubt that it won’t take her long to act on her newfound power and wealth.

The house is quiet when I walk in and I almost breathe a sigh of relief, but then I hear the telltale sound of Mona’s heels on our marble floor. She smirks when she sees me and pauses, leaning back against the wall as her eyes roam over my body, her gaze unsettling.

“I take it you have by now verified that you have no claim on any of the Sinclair assets?”

I stare at her, my words caught in my throat. Mona chuckles, and the knowing look in her eyes grates on me.

“Cat got your tongue? I didn’t think I’d ever see the day you don’t talk back to me.”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair, annoyed by her mere presence. Everything about her annoys me. The skimpy clothes, the excessive makeup and jewelry, the sound of her voice. I hate everything about her.

“I’m going to my room,” I say, walking past her.

“No, you’re not.” Her voice is soft, but it’s got an edge to it. “You’re going to pack your bags and get the hell out of my house.”

I turn around to face her, confused. “What?”

“You heard me. You never liked me anyway, and I have no intention of putting up with your moody ass for a moment longer. Pack your bags and get out of my house.”

“Your house?” I repeat. “This is the home I grew up in. We buried my father three days ago, Mona. You can’t be serious.”

She smiles, her expression venomous. “I’m dead serious. This is a new start for us, for Ryan. I want you gone by the time Ryan gets home from soccer practice, or I’ll have security escort you out for trespassing. Don’t try me, Silas. You won’t like the consequences.”

“Dad would never want you to do this. Is this how you honor your marriage with him? By evicting his son days after his funeral?”

Mona smiles and crosses her arms. “Your father is dead, just like our marriage was. I want you gone. Consider this your last warning.”

She walks away, and I stare after her. I know her well enough to know that she isn’t joking, but where does that leave me? With nothing to my name, I won’t even be able to afford to go to college. How could she do this to me when I’ve barely even recovered from losing Dad?

It’s strange how disappointed I am in her. I never had high expectations, so why does it hurt so much that she proved me right? Part of me wanted to believe that she truly loved my father, even though I knew better.

It only takes me an hour to pack my bags, and before I know it, I’m pulling up in front of my best friend’s house. At least I still have some cash in my bank account, and I’ve got my car.

I lean back in my seat and stare at Lucas’s front door, unsure what my next steps should be. Can I even afford to attend college? Am I better off not going at all?

I’m filled with heartache and shame as I get out of my car, the backseat filled with my belongings. Even as I press the doorbell, I’m second-guessing coming here, but I have nowhere else to go. I have no family, and though I know many people, Lucas is my only real friend.

He opens the door before I have a chance to change my mind, and I smile at him nervously. “Hey,” I murmur. “I really need a place to stay.”