Chapter 3: Inheritance Games Begin

I let go, and Lila fell to the floor, startled.

She landed with a little thud. Wide-eyed, she blinked back tears.

I rubbed my eyes, forcing a tear.

“My poor brother, where did it happen? So young, gone just like that!”

I made my voice crack, like I was barely holding it together. “As his brother, I have to get to the bottom of it. Where did the accident happen?”

My voice trembled, eyes red, and the neighbors softened. A few neighbors muttered apologies.

An old lady turned to the stepmother.

“Yeah, a crash in the city that killed someone is big news. Where exactly? Did you call the cops? Why weren’t you and your granddaughter at the hospital?”

The stepmother stammered, and seeing suspicion growing, Lila hugged her, choking out,

“Grandma was scared I’d be traumatized at the hospital, so she wanted to leave me with Uncle first.”

Her words were shaky. Her little hands gripped her grandma’s sleeve. So young and already acting—no wonder I got played before.

Just as the neighbors were half-convinced, the police showed up.

Their blue lights flashed through the frosted glass, bathing the hallway in cold color.

The stepmother cursed, “Who called the cops! Meddling busybodies—you’ll regret it!”

I smiled. “That was me.”

After those warnings, I’d gotten cautious.

Even if I couldn’t trust those weird comments, I wasn’t taking chances.

After hanging up on my brother’s ‘last’ call, I’d called the police right away.

Officer Jenkins wouldn’t steer me wrong.

“You said your brother was in a crash? We haven’t heard about any crash. Got any details?”

I invited them in, and the stepmother and Lila squeezed in after.

Lila ran her hands over the furniture, eyes shining. She loved the 2,000-square-foot apartment.

She ran her hand along the kitchen counter, fingers tracing the marble like she was already picturing her stuff there. The stepmother plopped onto the couch, sighing like she owned the place. “We’ve been out there forever and you wouldn’t let us in. Who are you guarding against?”

The officer frowned, jotting notes.

“We checked—there was no crash. If this is a prank, you could be charged.”

I breathed out, letting my tone go dry. “Guess my mom was just messing with me—scared me half to death. As long as Nathaniel’s okay.”

The stepmother leapt up.

“Nathaniel called me to entrust Lila to Colin. You think I’d joke about something like this?”

The officer pressed, “So when exactly did this happen?”

She fumbled, words tumbling out. “He went out this morning, said he was hiking up Mount Maple, there’s a music festival. I only heard screeching brakes... then the call cut off...”

Then she widened her eyes, as if realizing something, “Could my son have fallen off a cliff? He wouldn’t joke. Officer, please check!”

The cops traded glances, looking troubled.

“It’s a pop-up site up there, and the woods have no cameras. You don’t know the exact spot, so it’ll be tough.”

After taking notes, they left.

The door barely clicked shut before chaos resumed. As soon as the cops were gone, Lila ran into a room, shouting,

“This’ll be my room now!”