Chapter 13 - SECRETS FROM THE PAST
Three months later, life had settled into a quiet rhythm. James continued as our driver and protector, but his role had expanded. He was family in every way that mattered. He ate dinner with us. He attended school recitals. He taught the girls how to ride bicycles and how to defend themselves. He was the steady, constant presence in our lives.
One afternoon, while the girls were at school, James brought me a box—old, heavy, covered in dust.
"I found this in the attic of my father’s house," James said. "I thought… you might want to see it."
Inside were letters. Diaries. Old photographs. Documents I had never seen. Including a will—my grandfather’s will—written years before I was born.
I read it carefully. Then I read it again.
"There’s a codicil," I said, my voice slowing. "Written three years before my grandfather died. It changes everything."
James leaned in. "What does it say?"
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"It says that if my father dies before his time… the entire estate passes to his legitimate sons. But… it defines legitimate sons differently than we thought." I looked up at James, my heart beginning to race. "It says any son born of a legal marriage counts. Including… including sons born outside of the primary marriage."
James went still. "What does that
