After My Parents Died, My Aunt Took My Inheritance and Gave Me a Mattress on the Floor – Years Later, She Knocked on My Door

“Jewelry. Papers.

Things people don’t understand the value of.”

“You took everything!”

“I handled things,” she corrected. “Someone had to.”

She turned the notebook over and tapped the inside cover.

My heart slammed. Because taped there, hidden between the cardboard and the first page, was something I’d never touched.

A small envelope.

Linda peeled it back before I could stop her.

A tiny brass key slid into her palm. Her eyes changed. Not curious.

Not sentimental. Sharp.

“Well,” she said slowly. “That explains a lot.”

I grabbed the notebook.

She laughed.

“Oh, Ethan. Don’t be naive.”

“What does it open?”

She met my eyes. “Something you were never meant to keep.”

I felt sick.

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