Chapter 8: The Night Before Grandma Died
I didn't sleep that night.
The anonymous message sat on my phone like a warning.
I'd read it so many times that I could remember every word without looking.
Ask what happened the night before she died.
My grandmother had passed away eighteen months earlier.
She'd been seventy-nine.
The official explanation was that she had suffered a sudden cardiac event in her sleep.
I'd been told she'd gone to bed feeling tired.
I'd been told there was nothing anyone could have done.
I'd been told to remember her peacefully.
Now I wondered whether I'd been told the truth.
At seven the next morning, I called Richard.
He answered on the second ring.
"Maya?""
"Someone sent me a message.""
I read it aloud.
He was silent.
Then he asked, "What number?""
I gave it to him.
"Don't reply. I'll look into it.""
"Do you know what happened that night?""
He hesitated.
"I know there was an incident at the house.""
My stomach tightened.
"What incident?""
"Your grandmother contacted me shortly before midnight. She sounded distressed.""
"About what?""
"She said she had discovered that someone had entered her study and removed a document.""
I sat down.
"What document?""
"She didn't specify over the phone. She asked me to come the following morning.""
"Did you?""
Richard sighed.
"I arrived at nine. By then, she had passed away.""
I pressed a hand against my forehead.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?""
"Because the police initially treated her death as natural, and there was no evidence connecting the missing document to it.""
"What was missing?""
Richard was quiet for several seconds.
"An original codicil to her will.""
I stopped breathing for a moment.
"A codicil?""
"An amendment. Your grandmother had made changes to certain arrangements concerning her property and financial accounts.""
"Who knew about it?""
"Your mother. Vanessa. Me. And your grandmother's financial adviser.""
I closed my eyes.
"Did Vanessa enter the study that night?""
"I don't know.""
"Did Mom?""
"That's something we need to establish.""
I stood.
"I'm coming to your office.""
"Bring the original message. And Maya?""
"Yes?""
"Don't confront anyone until we've reviewed the records.""
I promised.
Then I ended the call.
But I knew one thing.
I couldn't keep pretending that everything that had happened was separate.
The stolen painting.
The missing inheritance.
The rental agreement.
The hidden letter.
They were connected somehow.
And I was tired of being the last person to know what was happening in my own family.
At ten thirty, I arrived at Richard's office.
He had already prepared several folders.
A woman named Helen Carter was sitting beside him.
She introduced herself as the independent trustee appointed by my grandmother.
She was in her sixties, with short silver hair and a calm expression.
"Maya, I'm glad you're here," she said.
Richard placed the codicil file on the table.
"We found a scanned copy of the missing amendment.""
My eyes moved to the heading.
"What did Grandma change?""
Richard turned the document toward me.
The amendment had been signed six weeks before her death.
It contained several revisions to the estate arrangements.
My mother was no longer authorized to manage any funds belonging to me.
Vanessa's temporary occupancy rights at the family house were also subject to stricter conditions.
But the final paragraph caught my attention.
It concerned the original paintings.
My grandmother had specifically instructed that the collection remain untouched until a formal provenance review was completed.
I looked at Richard.
"Why?""
He folded his hands.
"Because she believed some of the paintings might have been improperly sold or transferred over the years.""
"By whom?""
"We don't know yet.""
Helen opened another folder.
"There's something else.""
She removed a photograph.
It showed Grandma sitting in her study.
A few papers lay across the desk.
Beside her was a small wooden box.
I recognized it immediately.
It was the box she had given me.
"That's mine," I whispered.
Helen nodded.
"Your grandmother told us that you were the only person she trusted to keep it safe.""
I frowned.
"I never knew what was inside.""
Richard looked at me.
"Have you opened it?""
"Not completely. I thought it contained old photographs.""
"Did you examine the bottom?""
I shook my head.
Helen reached into her folder.
She took out a photograph of the box from several angles.
"There's a false panel.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
"Your grandmother instructed us to tell you about it if the original estate documents were challenged.""
My hands began to shake.
I had left the box in my bedroom.
Inside our house.
Inside the house Vanessa was still occupying.
I stood immediately.
"I need to get it.""
Richard raised a hand.
"Wait.""
He looked at Helen.
"Given the circumstances, I think we should arrange for someone to accompany her.""
I frowned.
"Why?""
"Because the property trust administrator has received a report that someone attempted to access your grandmother's locked study yesterday evening.""
I felt my stomach drop.
"Who?""
Helen turned the laptop toward me.
A security photograph appeared.
The image was slightly grainy.
But I recognized the woman immediately.
Vanessa.
She was standing outside Grandma's study, holding a key.
Richard leaned forward.
"The camera recorded her entering at 8:17 p.m. She left eleven minutes later.""
"What was she looking for?""
"That's what we intend to find out.""
I picked up my phone.
I wanted to call Mom.
I wanted to demand an explanation.
But Richard stopped me.
"Not yet.""
He closed the laptop.
"Let's go to the property together.""
An hour later, we arrived at the house.
The front door was unlocked.
I stepped inside.
The familiar smell of polished wood and lavender filled the hallway.
A framed photograph of Grandma hung beside the staircase.
For a moment, I was twelve again.
Running downstairs with a drawing in my hands.
Grandma waiting in the kitchen.
Her smile.
Her warm voice.
Then I heard Vanessa.
"Why are you here?""
She stood at the top of the staircase.
Her hair was messy.
She wore an oversized sweatshirt and held a cup of coffee.
When she saw Richard, her expression changed.
"What is he doing here?""
Richard showed her the property authorization.
"We're here to inspect the study and retrieve property belonging to Maya.""
Vanessa laughed.
"She doesn't live here anymore.""
I looked at her.
"Neither do you own it.""
Her coffee cup hit the railing.
"Don't start.""
I walked upstairs.
She stepped into my path.
"You're not going in there.""
Richard intervened.
"Miss Bennett, please move.""
Vanessa looked at him.
"You can't just walk into my house.""
Helen handed her a copy of the trust document.
"According to the property records, it isn't your house.""
Vanessa read the first page.
Her face tightened.
Then she looked at me.
"You really brought lawyers into this?""
I kept walking.
Grandma's study was at the end of the corridor.
The door was closed.
I turned the handle.
It opened.
The room looked almost untouched.
The old desk stood beneath the window.
Her reading glasses remained beside the lamp.
A half-empty bottle of lavender hand lotion sat on the shelf.
I walked toward the desk.
My fingers brushed the polished surface.
"Grandma," I whispered.
Then I remembered the box.
I hurried downstairs to my old bedroom.
The room had been converted into a storage space.
Cardboard boxes were stacked against the walls.
My old books had been shoved beneath a table.
But the wooden box was still on the shelf.
I picked it up.
It felt heavier than I remembered.
Richard stood in the doorway.
"Is that it?""
I nodded.
He examined the bottom.
There was a narrow seam running along one edge.
He carefully pressed it.
A small panel slid open.
Inside was a folded envelope, a USB drive, and a tiny brass key.
I lifted the envelope.
My grandmother's handwriting covered it.
*For Maya. Read this before you open the study cabinet.*
I turned toward Richard.
"There's a cabinet?""
He nodded.
"Behind the painting.""
I looked toward the hallway.
Vanessa was standing at the other end.
She had followed us downstairs.
When she saw the envelope in my hand, her expression changed completely.
"Give me that.""
I stepped backward.
"Why?""
She moved toward me.
"Because it doesn't belong to you.""
Richard immediately stepped between us.
"Stop.""
Vanessa stared at the envelope.
Then she looked at me.
"You have no idea what Grandma put in there.""
I tightened my grip.
"Then tell me.""
Her eyes filled with something that looked almost like desperation.
"Because if you open that cabinet, everything will fall apart.""
I looked at the brass key.
Then at my sister.
And suddenly, I understood.
May you like
She wasn't afraid of losing the house.
She was afraid of what my grandmother had hidden inside it.
