Chapter 5

The plane landed in the city I once called home.

Twenty years had turned this place upside down.

Skyscrapers lined the horizon, and cars streamed endlessly through the streets.

The low houses and cramped alleys I remembered had vanished without a trace.

The air carried a scent that was both familiar and foreign.

I didn't contact William.

Instead, I took a cab straight to the hospital using the address he sent.

I needed to see Richard's condition for myself.

Everything I did next would depend on what I found.

If he was faking it, I'd turn around and leave—no hesitation, no fuss.

But if he truly was on his deathbed, then the will would seem a lot more genuine.

I arrived at the inpatient wing of the hospital.

The hallway was thick with the smell of disinfectant.

I asked at the nurse's station for Richard's room number.

It was a plain old three-bedroom, cramped and noisy.

I stood at the doorway and looked in through the glass.

On the bed by the window, a frail old man was lying there.

His eyes were shut, his face pale and yellowish, and an oxygen mask was strapped over his face.

The machines next to his bed let out a steady beep.

Next to the bed sat a woman with graying hair, looking completely exhausted.

That was my aunt, Sophie Harper.

She was working hard, wiping Richard down with a towel.

In the corner of the room, a young man was crouched on the floor, his head buried in his hands, shoulders trembling as he quietly sobbed.

That was William.

The photos were real.

The videos were real, too.

No one could fake what was happening right in front of me.

This was true despair, the kind that hit when life had beaten one down and left one with nothing.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

All three of them turned to look at me at once.

Sophie froze, her cloudy eyes full of bewilderment and puzzlement.

William looked up, and the instant he saw me, it was like he had grabbed onto a lifeline. He rushed over, stumbling in his hurry.

"Serena, you really came!" William's voice was loud and trembling with emotion, and it startled Richard, who was lying in bed.

Richard slowly opened his eyes, struggling to turn his head toward me.

His eyes found me.

The eyes that once brimmed with cunning and disdain were now nothing but empty and gray, drained of all life.

He parted his lips, trying to say something.

But all that came out were a few raspy, wheezing sounds, like an old bellows struggling to breathe.

"Serena?" Sophie called out. She finally recognized me. She stood up, her whole body trembling, her lips quivering. "You... You're Serena?"

It had been twenty years.

I thought that when I saw them again, I'd be furious, maybe even mock them.

I imagined myself standing over them like a winner, looking down at their misery.

But standing here now...

Seeing uncle Richard, who used to be so high and mighty, now lying there so weak and broken, and seeing my aunt's face, every wrinkle carved by years of hardship and suffering, I didn't feel any satisfaction at all.

All I felt was a kind of sadness I couldn't even put into words.

Time was the only judge that was truly fair to everyone.

"It's me," I said calmly, my tone completely neutral. "Where's the will?" Cutting straight to the point, I didn't want to waste any time.

William froze for a moment, then looked to Sophie for help.

Sophie's expression turned awkward and uneasy.

She wrung her hands, fidgeting nervously as she spoke. "Serena, you see, your uncle Richard... He's gotten so bad.

"We've run out of money.

"We still owe the hospital a lot for his treatment. The hospital keeps asking for payment, and they've warned us that if we don't pay soon, they're going to..."

"They're going to stop his medication." I cut her off. "So, the will was an excuse to get me back here, wasn't it?" My voice grew icy.

"No, it's not like that. No!" William scrambled to explain, frantically waving his hands. "The will is real. I haven't lied to you. But... But the will is kept in my father's safe deposit box at the bank.

"He said... He said it's something Grandpa left behind, and we're not supposed to touch it.

"Only..."

His voice faded, and he couldn't bring himself to meet my eyes.

I finished his sentence for him. "So basically, unless I pay off all your hospital bills and debts first, he's not giving me the key to the safe deposit box, is he?"

The room fell into a heavy silence.

William and Sophie both lowered their heads.

That was as good as admitting it.

I let out a cold laugh.

Figured.

Even when they were down and out, they were still scheming, still trying to make deals with me.

Old habits died hard.

I looked at the old man lying in the hospital bed, barely able to breathe.

Richard was staring right back at me.

There was no regret, no guilt in his eyes, just that hard-to-spot, stubborn scheming.

It was like he was saying, "I know what you want, but you'll have to play by my rules."

Alright, great.

The last trace of melancholy in my heart vanished completely.

In its place was a coldness that seeped into my bones, and a resolve, fiercer than ever, rising up inside me.

So you wanted to play, huh?

Alright.

I would play your game.

I walked up to the bed, bent over, and stared straight into Richard's eyes.

I spoke each word slowly and clearly, "Uncle Richard, listen carefully.

"I didn't come back to save you.

"I'm here to take back what's rightfully ours.

"I must see the will.

"As for your hospital bills and debts, that has nothing to do with me.

"I'm giving you three days.

"If the will isn't in front of me within three days, it's like I was never here.

"Whether the meds stop or the debt collectors come knocking, that's your problem."

With that, I turned and walked away, not sparing him another glance.

William rushed up, trying to stop me.

"Serena, please don't leave, Serena," he called out.

I didn't bother to look back.

"Remember, you only have three days," I said.

I walked out of the room and left the hospital.

The sunlight outside stung my eyes.

I squinted, pulled out my phone, and dialed a number.

I said, "Hello, is this Mr. Grant?

"This is Serena Harper."

"Yeah, I'm back.

"I've got something personal I need your help with.

"Can you dig up all the debts for Richard Harper and Charles Harper?

"And get me the details on our old estate, who owns it now, and if it's been mortgaged.

"I want everything, the more details the better."

It had been twenty years.

I was not that helpless little girl who could only cry in the backyard anymore.

I was Serena Harper, a lawyer.

This place would be my battlefield now.