Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Something flutters to the ground, a single, folded sheet of paper. Shit. I’ll never find what page it was placed on!
I carefully pick it up from the ground and I’m about to guess a page to slide it under when the large title shines through the thin paper.
Last Will and Testament
My fingers tremble as I peel it open and stare at the opening line, written in familiar scruffy handwriting.
Dated… two days before he died.
Signed by Nathan Weston and… Sasha Rutter.
My heart shatters and my hand flies to my mouth. My entire body begins to shake and the pain I feel in my chest is unbearable.
Why would Caleb write a Will and Testament?
He didn’t know he was dying… he didn’t know.
He didn’t.
And Sasha didn’t know either. She wouldn’t betray me like that.
My mouth trembles as a lump forms in my throat. I read through the scruffy handwriting that states everything Caleb owned was to go to me upon his death, including his trust fund, car, life insurance…
Powerful tears beat at my eyes, making them sting and automatically close, pushing the salty fluid of sorrow from my eyes.
The hole in my heart, that was slowly filling, is now tearing open and gaping even bigger than before. It’s as if it no longer exists for anything other than to hold pain.
I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, I know I shouldn’t.
But why would Nathan keep this from me? Why would Sasha keep this from me?
Does this have something to do with what Mr Weston has been sending me? Something in my mind tells me that this has everything to do with what Mr Weston has been sending me.
A flood of thoughts enter my mind, the first being Sasha. When we went to the park she hinted that it felt strange the way Caleb died, almost as if telling me to look into it, but I refused.
Her being okay with me and Nathan way before there ever was a Nathan and I. She was almost pushy with it. I remember because Tommy snapped at her to leave it.
It’s almost as if she knew Caleb wasn’t what he said he was and she wanted me to stop grieving and move on. Why didn’t I find it weird? Am I really that dense? It’s like a screaming, flashing alarm now.
Nathan… when he said his brother wasn’t who I thought he was… I thought he was referring to the whole him taking me first.
But… how did Caleb know he was dying and I didn’t? He was only ill for a few days before he left the earth.
I clumsily wipe away my tears and carefully place the will on the top of Nathan’s desk. I stare at it for a long moment, willing it to vanish from the desk and my memory.
A cold wave of numbness washes through me, attacking every cell in my body until, finally, my tears dry and I feel nothing.
“Sasha,” I say to her sleepy voice when she answers the phone.
“Yeah? It’s midnight. What’s wrong? Is Dillan okay?”
“I need you to come round; it’s an emergency.” I state. “Dillan is fine.”
“Oh… okay, sure. I’ll be there in fifteen.” She hangs up and I fight the urge to slam my phone down on the desk.
A broken phone is not needed right now.
What do I do? What do I say?
The minute she walks in, I place the will in her hands. Her eyes go wide and her body starts trembling. “Where’s Nathan?”
“Arrested. I’m not sure why. He was in London when it happened.” I take the will back and make my way towards the living room, where I place it on the coffee table. “I’d like an explanation from you, seeing as it’s impossible for me to get one from him right now.”
“Gwen, it’s… complicated. I didn’t want anything to do with it,” she whispers solemnly. “Please believe me. I mean… the will isn’t even legal. Technically.”
“It’s not about the will. It’s not about the money I haven’t received!” I snap, glaring at her. “Did he know he was dying?”
She gulps and very slowly nods her head. “It’s complicated.”
“How did you find out?” I hiss, feeling the pieces of my heart that shattered upon Caleb’s death slowly shrivel to dust. An ache I can’t describe begins in my stomach. It feels like something is crawling inside me. I want to heave; I want to vomit. Instead I stare at her blankly, needing answers.
Her eyes fill with unshed tears and her voice is hoarse when she speaks. “I… I caught him doing something and he had to tell me. I didn’t want any part of it, but… he was… he wasn’t right towards the end. He was desperate to leave something behind. Anything behind.”
My spine stiffens as her words penetrate my anger. “What are you talking about, Sasha? What did you catch him doing?”