My Father Made Me the Scapegoat

Chapter 2

By the time I returned to the Bayview condo, the locks had been changed.

Two men in black suits guarded the door. When they saw me, they handed me a note from Vanessa.

It said Ethan had taken possession of the condo that morning and that all personal belongings would be delivered to the estate that afternoon.

I tightened my grip on the note.

"Where is the lock box my mother left?"

One of the men looked away.

"Ms. Cole has already had the apartment cleared. The family will take custody of all valuables."

I pushed past him and reached for the doorknob.

He blocked me. He did not use much force, but it was enough to shove me off the front step.

Mom's kitchen window faced the corner. When I came home from school as a child, she would always be waiting there. The moment she saw me, she switched on the light.

Now Vanessa's pale gold curtains hung in the window.

Ethan stepped out of a car, followed by a crew carrying furniture.

His smile faded when he saw me.

"Elena, Dad said you can't go inside for now."

I stared at the moving box behind him. The spout of Mom's teapot was sticking out of the top.

"Where is the lock box?"

Ethan followed my gaze and motioned for a mover to seal the box.

"I don't know which box you mean."

"The blue metal one in the back of the kitchen cabinet."

He was silent for 2 seconds before answering.

"If it contains family records, we can't give it to you."

I understood perfectly.

The family's rules appeared whenever I needed something. Whenever Ethan wanted something, Dad found an exception.

I took out my phone and texted my father.

Elena: I only want the lock box. I won't touch any of the Grant accounts.

His reply came almost at once.

Dad: Everything your mother left belongs to the family. Stop making trouble. Ethan is moving today. Don't make this difficult for him.

I stared at the screen until my fingertips went numb.

Before Mom died, I had bathed her and fed her medicine every day.

Less than 1 hour after she took her last breath, my father decided that everything she had left should belong to the family.

I put away my phone and looked up at Ethan.

"Give me the lock box, and I'll leave right now."

His expression darkened.

"Elena, do you have to make everything so embarrassing? I'm getting married soon. Vanessa's family will be here this afternoon. If they see you making a scene outside, they'll think the Grants are divided."

"What does the state of this family have to do with me collecting Mom's things?"

"You've always been like this." He lowered his voice. "The moment someone else has something good, you have to take it."

The words struck the same old wound.

When we were children, Mom hired an Idanian tutor for Ethan.

After listening outside the door for 2 hours, I asked to study with him the next day. Dad told me the family had no use for two heirs.

Later, I taught myself Idanian with library books.

If Ethan liked something and I wanted it too, I was stealing.

If Ethan wanted something, he only had to reach out his hand.

I looked at him and suddenly had no desire to explain myself.

"You're right. I shouldn't try to take it."

Thinking I had surrendered, Ethan relaxed.

I raised my phone and opened the recording app.

It had captured everything: the sound of the guard shoving me and Ethan admitting that the family had taken the lock box.

"I won't go inside today," I put away my phone. "But until you return the lock box, I won't let this go."

Ethan reached for my phone, but I stepped aside.

His hand froze in midair. For the first time, he had failed to get something he wanted.

As I walked away, I heard him call our father.

"Stop her. Don't let her take this outside the family."