Melissa stood before Kara’s grand house, her hand gripping the small gift bag tightly. A knot twisted in her stomach. Two years had passed since Mark’s death, and in that time, his mother had barely acknowledged her presence.
Mark’s siblings, however, still reached out from time to time, including her in family events, though she wasn’t technically part of the family anymore. Melissa always appreciated the inclusion, and when Kara invited her to the birthday party, she felt she had no choice but to attend.
“You can do this, Melissa,” she whispered to herself, taking a deep breath. “For Mark. For Eleanor.” The thought of her daughter, Eleanor, made her heart ache.
Eleanor’s passing had left a void in Melissa’s life. It had been only three months, but Melissa still found herself picking up the phone to call her, whether it was for a moment of joy or sorrow. Eleanor had been her rock.
With a steadying breath, Melissa rang the doorbell, forcing a smile onto her face as the door swung open. Kara stood before her, lips tightly pressed together, as if she hadn’t wanted Melissa to come at all.
“Melissa. You made it.” Kara’s voice barely disguised the irritation in her words.
“Happy birthday, Kara,” Melissa said, offering the gift bag.
Kara took it without a word of thanks, turning quickly. “Everyone’s in the backyard.”
Melissa followed her through the house, noting how little had changed. There were photos of Mark everywhere—childhood pictures, photos from his teenage years, college graduation shots—but strangely, not a single one from their wedding. Kara had always made her disdain clear.
The backyard was buzzing with family, friends, and relatives. A few faces lit up when they saw her, offering warm hugs, while others cast disapproving glances.
Emma, Mark’s niece, approached her with a wide smile. At 20, she had always been more like a sister to Mark than a niece.
“Melissa! I’m so glad you came!” Emma wrapped her arms around her tightly, her warmth a sharp contrast to Kara’s coldness.
“Kara invited me,” Melissa replied, still shocked that her sister-in-law had extended an invitation.
Emma’s brows shot up. “She did? That’s… unexpected.”
“Tell me about it,” Melissa muttered.
The next hour was torture. Melissa tried to make small talk, but Kara’s barbed comments constantly pierced through her.
“That outfit is quite… casual for a family gathering, don’t you think, Melissa?” Kara said loudly while Melissa was chatting with Mark’s uncle.
“Oh, I think it’s lovely,” the uncle’s wife said kindly, trying to defend her.
Kara ignored her. “I’m surprised you still come to these things. Most people would have moved on by now.”
Melissa bit back her irritation. “Family is important to me, Kara.”
“Are we really your family though?” Kara asked with a sharp smile. “Without Mark?”
The sting of her words hit harder than Melissa cared to admit, but she excused herself, heading toward the drink table, feeling Kara’s eyes burning into her back.
By the time the cake was served, Melissa was ready to leave. The constant comments about her job, her appearance, and even her grief were too much to bear.
“Still at that little marketing firm?” Kara had remarked earlier. “You look tired, dear.” Even more cruelly, “It’s been two years, Melissa. When are you going to start dating again?”
Melissa sat down, poking at the cake, her appetite long gone, when Kara approached again—this time with a woman she didn’t recognize.
“This is Diane,” Kara said with a forced smile. “She’s a colleague of my son’s from law school. They’ve been spending a lot of time together.”
The implication was obvious. Kara was ready to move on, and Melissa was no longer welcome.
Diane gave an uncomfortable smile, clearly caught up in something she didn’t want to be involved with.
Something inside Melissa snapped. She stood up, her voice cutting through the tense air.
“Enough of the veiled barbs, Kara. Is this why you invited me here, so you could start a fight?”
The room went silent. Kara’s face turned red with fury.
“How dare you!” she hissed. “You have no right to speak to me that way in my own home!”
“I’m just responding to what you’ve been throwing at me all afternoon,” Melissa shot back, standing her ground.
Kara’s eyes flared with rage. “Get out!” she screamed, pointing toward the door. “You’re not welcome here anymore! You never were! Mark is gone, Eleanor is gone, and you have no place in this family!”
The words cut deep, but Melissa refused to let her see her crumble. She set down her plate carefully, determined not to show the tears threatening to fall.
“Goodbye, Kara,” she said quietly, her voice steady. “Happy birthday.”
Melissa walked through the house with her head held high, but as soon as she reached her car, the floodgates opened, and the tears came rushing.
On autopilot, she drove home, her humiliation burning inside her chest. When she reached her front door, her phone rang.
“Emma,” the name flashed on the screen. Melissa wiped her eyes and picked up.
“Melissa, listen to me,” Emma’s voice was urgent, breathless. “I think you need to come back. With a lawyer.”
Melissa froze. “What? Why?”
“She didn’t kick you out for no reason. They’re hiding something from you!” Emma continued, her voice frantic. “After you left, I overheard Kara talking to a man in her study. He’s a lawyer, the same one who handled Grandma Eleanor’s estate. Melissa, she left her business to you. The whole thing. Not to Aunt Kara.”
Melissa’s heart pounded. “What?”
“Kara just found out before the party,” Emma’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s why she was so awful to you. But there’s more.”
“What do you mean?” Melissa asked, confusion mixing with a growing sense of dread.
“They’re planning to hide the inheritance from you,” Emma said, barely able to contain her anger. “The lawyer said something about fabricating documents. They’re going to steal it from you, Melissa!”
Melissa felt her shock harden into a burning resolve. “Thank you, Emma. I’ll handle this.”
Without wasting a second, Melissa hung up and dialed her lawyer, David. He had been by her side since her and Mark’s marriage. He picked up on the second ring.
“Melissa? Everything okay?”
Melissa quickly explained the situation. David’s response was swift and furious.
“Those crooked… I’ll meet you at Kara’s house in twenty minutes. If they’re trying to falsify inheritance documents, we need to act fast.”
Twenty-five minutes later, David and Melissa walked back into Kara’s birthday party. Conversations stopped abruptly as people noticed them entering.
Kara, who had been laughing with a group of guests, turned and froze when she saw them.
“Melissa!” she said, recovering quickly, her smile tight and fake. “What are you doing back?”
David stepped forward, his usually friendly demeanor now hard as stone. “Ma’am, I’m Melissa’s attorney, David. We need to speak with you and your lawyer immediately.”
Kara’s smile faltered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“We know everything,” David said firmly, his voice carrying across the yard. “And unless your lawyer confesses what you’re planning, I’ll be making a call to the authorities.”
A nervous-looking man stepped forward from the crowd. Melissa vaguely recognized him from Eleanor’s funeral. He glanced nervously at Kara, who shot him a hard look.
“I don’t know what you think you know,” Kara began, but David cut her off.
“We know that Eleanor left her business to Melissa, not to you,” he said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “And we know you’re planning to falsify documents to steal that inheritance.”
Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd. The lawyer shifted uncomfortably, sweat visibly beading on his forehead.
David pulled out his phone. “We can do this the easy way, or the legal way. Your choice.”
The lawyer glanced at Kara, then at the phone, then at the gathered witnesses. His shoulders slumped in defeat.
“It’s true,” he admitted quietly. “Mrs. Thompson asked me to… adjust some paperwork regarding her mother’s will.”
The backyard erupted in shocked whispers. Kara’s face drained of color, her lips trembling with rage.
“You idiot!” she screamed at the lawyer. “That business belongs to me! My mother built it from nothing! Melissa has no right to it! She isn’t even blood family!”
“Actually,” David said calmly, “Eleanor had every legal right to leave her property to whomever she chose. And she chose Melissa.”
“This isn’t over,” Kara spat, her fury barely contained.
David remained calm, his voice low but firm. “You might want to stop talking. We have enough evidence to press charges for attempted fraud.”
Kara sank into a chair nearby, the fight draining out of her. Defeated, she slumped, unable to even look anyone in the eye.
As David continued speaking with the lawyer about the next steps, Emma appeared at Melissa’s side, squeezing her hand.
“I knew Grandma Eleanor would’ve wanted you to have it,” Emma whispered.
Melissa squeezed back, tears welling up in her eyes.
As they left the party, a strange sense of lightness settled over Melissa. It wasn’t about the business or the money. It was about knowing that Eleanor had believed in her and had wanted her to carry on her legacy.
In that moment, Melissa could almost feel Eleanor’s presence beside her, a comforting hand on her shoulder, guiding her forward into whatever came next.
