CHAPTER 2: THE WRONG DAUGHTER
CHAPTER 2: THE WRONG DAUGHTER
"What did you just say?"
My mother looked pale.
The lawyer repeated himself.
"Emma Carter is the sole heir."
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Carter Industries.
The company my grandfather founded.
The company my mother always talked about.
The company she claimed had gone bankrupt years ago.
The lawyer frowned.
"Has nobody told her?"
I looked around.
Everyone looked nervous.
Especially my mother.
"What is he talking about?"
The lawyer opened another file.
"Carter Industries was never bankrupt."
Silence.
My father slowly sat down.
My mother looked like she might faint.
The lawyer continued.
"It was sold."
My heart pounded.
"Sold?"
He nodded.
"For approximately four hundred million dollars."
Gasps echoed through the church.
Four hundred million.
My knees nearly gave out.
I turned toward my mother.
"Is that true?"
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
Still nothing.
The lawyer looked confused.
"Mrs. Carter received control of the trust after your grandfather passed away."
The room erupted.
"What trust?" I asked.
The lawyer stared at me.
"You don't know about the trust?"
My mother suddenly shouted.
"That's enough!"
Everyone jumped.
For years she had controlled every room she entered.
Today was no different.
Except this time it wasn't working.
The lawyer calmly pulled out another document.
"According to your grandfather's instructions, the trust was to be transferred to Emma on her wedding day."
The room became silent again.
My wedding day.
Today.
My mother looked terrified.
Then my father whispered something that stunned everyone.
"You hid it."
My mother spun around.
"Don't."
"You hid her inheritance for fifteen years."
I felt sick.
"Mom?"
She burst into tears.
"I did it for the family."
The lawyer looked horrified.
"The family?"
She pointed at Chloe.
"Chloe needed it more."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
All my life.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Why Chloe always got what she wanted.
Why her debts magically disappeared.
Why Mom always chose her.
The golden child.
The favorite.
The daughter she loved.
Then Chloe spoke.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
"What does this mean?"
The lawyer closed the folder.
"It means Emma owns the trust."
"How much?"
Silence.
The lawyer adjusted his glasses.
"Current value is approximately six hundred and twenty million dollars."
The church exploded.
And Ethan...
The man who had dumped me twenty minutes earlier...
May you like
Looked like he was about to throw up.
END OF CHAPTER 2
