I Pretended to Be Homeless at the Department Store I Owned to Find My Heir – Then Someone Suddenly Grabbed Me from Behind

A woman nearby gasped and grabbed her friend’s arm.

“Like someone you were happy to throw out five minutes ago?” I said, too tired to be gentle.

Silence fell around us like a blanket.

I picked up my cane.

“Frank,” I called to the security guard who’d just arrived, a big man with kind eyes. “No one touches them. I’m taking them to my office.

If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with my lawyer.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said immediately.

I turned back to Tommy and Elena.

“Come with me,” I told them. “Again.”

We took the staff elevator up.

Tommy couldn’t stop looking around.

“This is so cool,” he whispered. “Mom, there’s a whole other mall behind the mall.”

My office was at the end of the hall.

Simple. Big windows, bookshelves, a worn leather couch.

Family photos lined one wall. My husband.

My children. All of them frozen in happier years.

I shut the door behind us and exhaled.

“You can sit,” I said, shrugging off the filthy coat.

Underneath, I still had my good wool dress and my pearls.

Tommy’s jaw dropped.

“Whoa,” he said. “You’re like a superhero.

Disguise and all.”

Elena sank onto the couch like her legs had given out.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said. “You own this place?”

“Yes,” I said. “This store.

The building. Quite a few other things too.”

I poured tea from the pot my assistant always kept ready and handed them each a mug.

Elena wrapped her hands around hers like it was a lifeline.

Tommy made a face after the first sip.

“Do you have hot chocolate?” he asked.

I smiled.

“You haven’t changed,” I said. “I’ll get you some in a minute.”

We sat in a comfortable, strange silence for a moment.

Then Elena looked up.

“Why were you dressed like that?” she asked.

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