Chapter 3
My heart clenched, and as I was about to speak, Emily turned to face him.
She said, "I'm James's wife.
"If he owed one million dollars today, I'd put up one and five hundred thousand dollars to help him pay it back.
"But now that he's got an inheritance, you guys suddenly treat me like I'm not family.
"Robert, the Crawford family knows how to pick their timing."
As soon as Emily said that, Linda's face fell.
"How can you talk to your elders like that?" Linda snapped.
Emily didn't argue back.
She picked up her phone from the table, making sure the screen was facing up.
Emily said, "If you want to keep talking, go ahead.
"I'm recording this."
David's face darkened.
"Who are you trying to scare?" he snapped.
Emily pressed the record button.
The red light blinked on.
She placed the phone right in the middle of the table.
She said, "Let's start now.
"I'm keeping a record of every single word you say.
"The lawyer will get to hear it tomorrow, too."
Susan immediately fell silent.
Linda let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.
She sneered, "A lawyer?
"You think you can actually keep that money?"
Robert opened the folder and pulled out a few sheets of paper.
He said, "This is the family's official decision.
"The house and some cash under your grandpa's name will have to be split up again.
"Sign your name."
He slid the papers across the table toward me.
I glanced down at the papers.
The so-called family agreement was laid out in black and white. According to it, I was to willingly hand over fifty percent of my inheritance, letting my father and aunt take charge of it together.
There was a blank line at the bottom, waiting for my signature.
I laughed. I did.
But Emily was faster than I.
She grabbed the papers, glanced at them, and then ripped them in half.
Linda shrieked. "What are you doing?"
Emily tossed the scraps back onto the table.
She said coolly, "That's a forged agreement.
"Trying to trick me into signing.
"It's all on the recording.
"If you guys don't know the law, my lawyer will give you a lesson tomorrow."
David slammed the table.
"Emily, don't push it," he barked.
The dishes on the table rattled.
Emily didn't flinch.
She said, "You guys are the ones crossing the line.
"James's grandpa got buried, and none of you care about his last wishes. All you can think about is his money.
"Now you show up at my place, trying to make my husband give up his inheritance.
"Seriously, do you know what shame is?"
Susan's face kept turning red and then pale.
Linda jabbed a finger at Emily.
"James, are you going to let your wife talk to your elders like that?" she demanded.
I glanced at the metal box on the table.
Then I looked at Emily's knuckles, white with tension.
Finally, I spoke up.
"She's speaking for me," I said.
My dad shot me a sharp look.
"Think you're all grown up now?" he snapped.
I stood up. "Dad, you know perfectly well why Grandpa left the money to me."
"And I know exactly how much you've taken from him all these years."
Robert's expression darkened.
I continued. "I wasn't planning to bring this up today.
"But since you all showed up.
"Let's lay it all out right now."
I picked up my phone and opened my email.
The files Grandpa's lawyer had sent that morning were still sitting there.
"Grandpa left a video, too, not the will," I said.
Linda's face went stiff.
"What video?" she demanded.
I opened the attachment.
The screen buffered for a moment.
On the screen, Grandpa sat in his study. His hair was silver, but his gaze was razor-sharp.
As soon as his first words echoed, everyone in the room went still.
"If they come after James, play them this video," Grandpa said.
Grandpa's voice wasn't loud, but it carried real weight.
No one in the room dared to make a sound.
In the video, he was wearing that old gray shirt, sitting behind his desk.
There was a stack of ledgers on the desk.
I recognized them.
Those were his old leather-bound ledgers, the ones he'd been using for decades.
Grandpa flipped open the first page.
He said, "Robert, twenty years ago, you claimed you needed money to keep your business afloat, and you took four hundred thousand dollars from me."
My dad's expression darkened instantly.