Chapter 1
Elena's POV:
After my mother's funeral, my father set a ring of keys on the table.
"As of today, the Bayview condo belongs to Ethan." He raised his eyes to mine. "He'll live there after the wedding. It'll also put him close to the port accounts he'll be taking over."
I stared at the keys and recognized the old silver tag on the ring.
Mom used to keep it clipped at her waist. It jingled whenever she cooked.
Only after she became seriously ill did she place it in my hand.
"The condo belonged to Mom," I said. "Before she died, she said everything inside was mine."
My father lifted his glass, took a sip, and finally looked at me.
"Your mother was delirious. Are you really going to divide up her estate based on something she said in passing?"
"She put it in writing."
I took a folded piece of paper from my purse and spread it across the table.
Mom had left only one sentence. Pain had already twisted her handwriting.
Victor Grant did not pick it up. He merely pinned one corner beneath his fingers.
"You've already taken money from the family. The Bayview condo is a Grant asset, and Ethan needs it."
As I stared at the words beneath his hand, I remembered the night before Mom died.
Her fever had been raging, but she would not let go of my sleeve.
Only after I promised to safeguard the lock box in the condo did her fingers slowly loosen.
"There isn't much money in it," she had said between ragged breaths. "But it belongs to you."
I had given her my word.
So I looked at my father and kept my voice as steady as I could.
"I don't want the family's money, and I won't challenge Ethan's inheritance. I only want the Bayview condo and what's inside it."
My father's brows drew together.
"Elena, do you have to fight over property at your own mother's funeral?"
Ethan's fiancée, Vanessa Cole, looped her arm through his and spoke softly.
"Elena is grieving, that's all. We can discuss the condo later."
Her tone was gentle, but her hand nudged the keys an inch closer to Ethan.
He looked down at me.
"You have plenty of room at the estate, Elena. The condo is sitting empty, so let me use it after the wedding. Once I find another place, I'll give it back."
I almost laughed.
Ethan had grown up in the quietest wing of the estate. He had the piano Mom had chosen by hand, the first new car in the garage, and the family signet ring Dad had given him years early.
Whenever he said later, it meant I had to lose something now.
My father picked up the keys and placed them directly in Ethan's palm.
"Ethan will be the Grant family's next second-in-command. His marriage affects our alliances, so you will give up the condo."
I watched the keys drop into my brother's hand and slowly curled my fingers into a fist.
Dad expected another argument. Instead, I lifted Mom's framed photograph from the table.
"He can have the apartment."
Relief crossed my father's face. He thought I had finally learned my place.
I brushed the dust from the frame and finished my sentence.
"I'll collect Mom's belongings myself."
