Chapter 7: The Scissors Left Behind
I couldn't stop staring at the scissors.
They were lying beneath James's desk, their silver handles catching the morning sunlight coming through the window.
The blades were slightly open.
One of them had a small scratch near the hinge.
I recognized them immediately.
They looked almost identical to the pair Martha had used to cut my wedding braid.
Nick crouched and examined them without touching them.
"Grandma, are these yours?""
Helen shook her head.
"No. I've never owned scissors like those.""
Richard walked toward the window.
"The lock hasn't been broken.""
Nick looked up.
"Then whoever came inside had a key.""
Helen's face tightened.
"Only three people had keys to this house. Richard, Martha, and me.""
Richard turned around.
"I haven't been here in months.""
Helen looked toward the hallway.
"Martha.""
Nick stood.
"She was at our apartment last night. She knew we were coming here.""
"How?"" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then Richard noticed something on the desk.
A small rectangular piece of paper had been tucked beneath the laptop.
He pulled it out.
It was a photograph of me.
Not a wedding photograph.
It was a picture taken outside my workplace several weeks earlier.
I was standing near the entrance, holding a coffee cup and talking to a colleague.
On the back, someone had written:
She must never receive the original agreement.
My hands went cold.
"Someone has been following me.""
Nick immediately wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"You're not going anywhere alone.""
I looked at him.
"Nick, this is getting serious.""
"I know.""
Helen picked up the photograph and studied it.
"That handwriting looks familiar.""
Richard leaned closer.
"Whose?""
Helen turned the paper over again.
"Martha's.""
For a moment, the room seemed to shrink around us.
My mother-in-law had cut my hair at our wedding.
She had tried to take control of the family property.
She had used Nick's signature.
And now someone had entered Helen's house and stolen a document specifically because my name appeared on it.
Nick called the police.
An officer arrived with a second investigator shortly afterward. They photographed the window, the scissors, and the desk.
One investigator asked whether anyone had touched the metal box.
Helen explained that we'd opened it together.
The officer carefully examined the scissors.
"These will need to be checked for fingerprints.""
Nick nodded.
"Good. Because we know who might have left them.""
The investigator looked at him.
"Do you have evidence connecting your mother to the break-in?""
"Not yet.""
"Then don't confront her yourselves. Let us investigate.""
After the officers left, Helen insisted that we stay for breakfast.
Nobody was hungry.
But she made coffee anyway and placed a plate of toast on the kitchen table.
She sat opposite me.
"Emily, I owe you an explanation.""
I looked up.
"About what?""
"Why your grandfather chose you.""
She folded her hands.
"James didn't select you simply because you were kind. He had a particular reason.""
I listened.
"Years ago, before you met Nick, your father helped an elderly man who had fallen outside a grocery store. He took him to the hospital, waited with him, and refused to accept payment.""
I remembered my father telling me about helping an older gentleman after a fall.
I had never known the man was connected to Nick's family.
"That man was James," Helen said.
My mouth fell open.
"What?""
"He remembered your father. He later learned that your family had helped him recover from surgery by bringing meals and checking on him.""
I felt tears gathering.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?""
"Because James wanted his decision to remain private until the trust was properly activated.""
Nick took my hand.
"So Grandpa had already decided Emily should inherit?""
"Not exactly. He named her as a potential beneficiary under specific conditions. He believed she represented the kind of person he wanted the family to protect.""
Richard looked toward Helen.
"And Martha knew?""
"She knew there was a beneficiary outside the immediate family. She didn't know the name.""
I frowned.
"Then why did she target me?""
Helen's expression became serious.
"Because she eventually discovered it.""
Nick leaned forward.
"How?""
Helen opened a drawer and removed an old notebook.
"Your grandfather recorded every significant conversation about the trust. Look at this entry.""
The page was dated two years before James died.
Beside the date was a short sentence:
Martha has discovered Emily's identity. She has begun asking questions about the wedding plans.
My stomach dropped.
Two years.
Martha had known about me long before the engagement.
Helen turned another page.
There was a handwritten note:
If Emily and Nicholas marry, Martha may attempt to prevent the marriage or interfere with the beneficiary process.
Nick stood abruptly.
"That's why she hated Emily from the beginning.""
Helen nodded.
"She was afraid.""
My phone vibrated.
A message from the unknown number.
This time, there was no photograph.
Just a sentence.
*You need to ask Victoria what Martha promised her in exchange for keeping quiet.*
I showed Nick.
He immediately called Victoria.
She answered after several rings.
"Nick?""
"Victoria, I need to ask you something.""
A long silence followed.
"Is this about your mother?""
"Yes.""
She exhaled.
"I was hoping she hadn't involved you.""
"What did she promise you?""
Victoria began crying.
"Nick, I swear I didn't know what she was really doing.""
"Then tell me what you do know.""
She hesitated.
Then she said something that made Helen put down her coffee.
"Martha told me that if I helped her get the original inheritance documents, she'd make sure I received a share of the family property.""
Nick closed his eyes.
"Did you help her?""
Victoria didn't answer immediately.
Then she whispered:
"I gave her a key.""
Helen slowly stood.
"What key?""
Victoria's voice trembled.
"The key to the old house.""
Richard grabbed the edge of the table.
"Why?""
"Because she said she only needed to retrieve a document. She promised nobody would get hurt.""
Nick looked toward the study.
"Victoria, when did you give it to her?""
"Yesterday.""
My blood ran cold.
"Yesterday?""
Victoria began sobbing.
"Yes. But Nick, there's something else.""
"What?""
"Your mother told me the original agreement wasn't the only thing hidden in that house.""
May you like
She paused.
"She said there's a second envelope with proof that could send her to prison.""
