money anyway?”
The lawyer looked at her.
“His father’s words were very clear.”
Then he read aloud the last sentence of Richard’s letter.
“He came into my life looking for security. He gave me something that money had never been able to buy. Make sure he is never afraid again.”
That’s when I started crying.
Not because I had inherited something.
But because Richard knew the nastiest truth about how our relationship had started…
and yet I believed that the way it ended mattered more.
Three months later, I moved into the small house by the lake.
I kept the wooden box on my bedroom dresser.
The brass key is still inside, although I don’t need it anymore.
And every time I remember Richard saying that I would get exactly what I deserved, I finally understand what he meant.
He didn’t leave me his fortune.
He left me a home,
