Chapter 3 - The Woman From the Snowy Driveway
Cold mountain air swept into the room as Victoria Shaw stepped inside.
Behind her, through the open doors, I could see the black SUV parked on the snowy driveway.
Victoria was the family estate attorney. She wore a black pantsuit, carried a slim leather folder, and looked like someone who never entered a room without already knowing how the next ten minutes would end.
She stopped a few feet inside the great room and looked directly at Gene.
Her voice was crisp and merciless.
“Mrs. Cole, the moment you opened that box, the exclusion clause took effect.”
No one moved.
Gene blinked at her. “What?”
Victoria didn’t repeat herself right away. She let the words settle.
Dad stepped closer to me and rested a hand on my shoulder.
I looked up at him. His face was tense, but not surprised.
He had known Victoria was coming.
He had known what was inside the box.
And suddenly I understood that Christmas morning hadn’t gone out of control.
It had gone according to a plan.
Gene’s eyes darted from the fallen ring to Victoria to Dad.
“You set this up?”
“No,” Dad said coldly. “Dad did.”
At first, I didn’t understand what he meant.
Then I remembered.
He didn’t mean himself.
He meant his father.
May you like
My grandfather.
The man who had died eight months earlier and somehow still had enough power to make my grandmother scream from beyond the grave.
