My Sister Kicked Me Out of the House After Our Father’s D-eat-h — But She Didn’t Know He Had Foreseen It

I know Charlotte, sweetheart. I know what she’ll do. But you are smarter than her. You always have been. The money is in a safety deposit box. Use it wisely, my girl.

I love you more than anything.

—Dad

I stared at the details of the bank account.

“I don’t know the code to the safe deposit box,” I whispered.

The lawyer smiled.

“The watch,” he said simply.

I took Dad’s watch off my wrist and turned it over. On the back, there were tiny scratches. Four digits, faint but visible.

A code!

Matthew grinned.

“Your dad was a genius, Dawn.”

I laughed, like really, really laughed, for the first time since he d-ied.

Charlotte had the house, but she also had all the debt. And she had just kicked out the one person who could save her from losing everything.

I was still staying at the bed and breakfast a few days later when Charlotte called me. I let it ring while I went to get myself a glass of water.

Then, I picked it up.

“Hello?” I said sweetly.

“You knew, didn’t you?” she spat.

“Knew what?” I asked.

“The house,” she snapped. “The lawyer just called me. There is debt. A lot of it. Like thousands of dollars. If they aren’t paid off, the house gets taken, Dawn. And you…” she let out a shaky breath. “You have the money, don’t you?”

I twirled my dad’s watch around my wrist.

“I might have the money…” I said. “But we don’t exactly have a good history, do we? You did kick me out.”

She was silent.

“You have to help me!” she said finally.