Chapter 2 - The Two Daughters
To understand the sheer cruelty of the slap that echoed through the grand ballroom, one had to look back at twenty years of toxic family history.
Evelyn had never wanted a daughter like Nora. From a very young age, Nora was quiet, disciplined, and possessed an unbreakable sense of justice—traits she inherited directly from her father, General Marcus Thorne. General Thorne was a highly respected military logistics commander who spent his life serving his country with honor.
Evelyn, on the other hand, was obsessed with status, designer labels, and the superficial glamour of being a general's wife. When she gave birth to her second daughter, Sienna, Evelyn finally got the vain, easily manipulated mirror image of herself she had always desired.
Throughout their childhood, Sienna was treated like absolute royalty. Evelyn bought her the finest clothes, funded her extravagant vacations, and covered up her academic failures. Meanwhile, Nora was treated like a burden, constantly criticized for being too serious and too plain.
Seeking an escape from the suffocating psychological abuse of her mother and the cruel taunts of her spoiled sister, Nora left home the moment she turned eighteen. She enlisted in the military, determined to build a life of purpose. Through sheer grit, brilliant intellect, and relentless hard work, Nora rose through the ranks to become a top-tier financial analyst for Army Intelligence.
General Thorne was immensely proud of his eldest daughter, often visiting her at her base and sharing long, quiet conversations about duty and honor. He saw the cold, greedy manipulation his wife and youngest daughter were capable of, and he deeply regretted not protecting Nora more when she was a child.
Three months before the grand military gala, General Thorne suddenly passed away from a massive heart attack. His death shattered Nora's world, but it also set off a ticking time bomb of pure, unadulterated greed within the family estate.
Evelyn and Sienna had immediately begun planning how to spend the general's massive life insurance and accumulated military pension, already browsing luxury real estate brochures before he was even buried. They assumed the wealth was theirs for the taking.
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They had no idea that General Thorne had left behind a secret legal mandate that would completely derail their glamorous plans.
👉 Read Part 3 to learn what the family lawyer revealed during the reading of the will.
