A Missing Key 218 Missed Calls One Family Secret novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“What… is this?” My voice cracked.

Garrett looked up at me, tears streaking his face.

“Evie, the house. The whole house. It’s yours.”

“Mom and Dad bought it for you. Only you.”

“The rest of us… we’re just your tenants.”

Tenants?

The word exploded in my brain.

“That’s not possible…”

Garrett grabbed a stack of bank statements from the pile and shoved them at me.

“See for yourself.”

I took them. Three years of transactions.

Every month, on the 15th, $5,000 deposited into my account.

Memo: Living expenses.

I’d always thought it was a performance bonus. It came in with my paycheck, so I never questioned it.

Garrett’s voice broke. “That’s Mom and Dad’s pension. Their savings. They said you were working so hard, and they didn’t want you to struggle. But they knew you’d never accept it, so they… hid it.”

My hands shook so hard I almost dropped the papers.

“Why didn’t they tell me?”

“Because you’re too stubborn, Evie. Mom said we’d help you quietly, so you’d think you did it all yourself. That way, you’d feel proud.”

He pulled out one last document.

A medical report.

At the top: Diane Lancaster.

My mom!

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A Missing Key, 218 Missed Calls, One Family Secret

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Chapter 8

Diagnosis: Pancreatic cancer (stage IV), with metastasis to the liver.

The world tilted. I couldn’t breathe.

“What…?”

I covered my mouth, choking back a scream.

Garrett caught me as my knees gave out.

“Evie!”

His voice cracked. “Mom was diagnosed last year. The doctors said… she has less than a year.”

A Missing Key, 218 Missed Calls, One Family Secret

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Chapter 8

Piece by piece, he started putting together the truth I’d gotten so horribly wrong.

“Evie, on moving day, Mom and Dad hid a huge cake in the kitchen fridge. Black forest-your favorite.”

“They wrote on it in chocolate: ‘Welcome home, Evie Lancaster, Marketing Director.””

“They were planning to wait until after dinner, after everyone left, to call you into the living room and surprise you. They were going to give you the deed. But… you left early.”

I remembered now.

When I stood to leave, Mom had gotten up from her chair. She’d taken a couple steps toward me, opened her mouth-then stopped.

She wasn’t trying to ignore me. She was trying not to ruin the surprise.

“What about… the photo?” I choked out. “The one with me Photoshopped out…”

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A Missing Key 218 Missed Calls, One Family Secret

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