Chapter 2 - The Attorney's Warning
The silence of my small apartment felt heavy and suffocating over the next seventy-two hours. Every dollar I had managed to save was earmarked for Lucas’s school supplies and winter clothes, leaving us dangerously vulnerable. Three days after my dismissal, right as I was trying to figure out how to stretch a box of generic macaroni into three meals, my mobile phone suddenly rang. I stared at the screen for a second before answering.
"This is Samuel," a deep, measured voice said on the other end of the line. "I was Mr. Christopher's personal attorney".
He paused, letting the heavy weight of his words sink into the quiet room. Then, his tone shifted, becoming intensely serious and guarded. "Before I explain what’s going on, there's something I need to ask you".
My hands began to shake violently, the phone nearly slipping from my grip. "Wh-what is it, Mr. Samuel?" I stammered, fearing another blow from the wealthy world that had just discarded me.
"Are you sitting down, Helena?" Samuel asked firmly. "I need you to sit down right now, before I tell you anything else".
I sank slowly onto the edge of my creaking kitchen chair, closing my eyes. "I'm sitting. Please... just tell me."
Samuel took a deep breath through the receiver. "Justin is currently at the mansion attempting to liquidate the property and clear out the estate. But he is making a catastrophic mistake. He believes he inherited everything under the preliminary probate documents filed five years ago. However, Mr. Christopher amended his final will and testament exactly fourteen days before he passed away. And Helena... you need to know that the mansion, the grounds, and the primary trust do not belong to Justin at all."
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My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't form a coherent thought. "Wh... who does it belong to, then?"
"You do," Samuel said clearly. "Every single brick, every acre of land, and every cent in the operating trust was legally transferred to your name. But Justin’s reckless actions over the last three days have triggered an emergency clause. If you want to stop him from destroying everything Mr. Christopher built, you need to meet me at the estate gates within the hour. And bring your ID."
