**Diary Entry**
*11th May 2023*
Mum and your brother are coming to claim their shareyouve cheated him, you have no conscience.
Those words still echo in my mind. I had given up my own inheritance for my father, yet he left me his entire flat. His warning lingers: Youll understand one day. Above all, dont trust themtheyll lie. Back then, I hadnt known who he meant. Now, its all painfully clear.
My name is Eleanor. I have an aunt, Beatrice, my mothers younger sister. They hadnt spoken in yearsrumour had it Beatrice took our grandmothers inheritance for herself. I knew I had cousins, Oliver and Charlotte. As children, we played together, but over time, we drifted apart. Recently, Charlotte found me on social media and shared revelations that chilled me to the bone.
The past few years have been shadowed by grief. Mum passed three years ago. Dad held on just long enough to see me graduate in Manchester, then followed her. They adored each otherhed bring her flowers, praise her endlessly. I dont think he ever recovered from losing her.
After Mums death, Dad inherited half the flat. I waived my claim in his favour, but to my shock, he left the whole property to me. Youll understand later, hed said. Dont trust them. I pressed him about who they were, what lies he feared, but he brushed me off.
Six months after his funeral, Charlotte reached out. She reminded me she was Beatrices daughter and said shed be visiting Manchester. We need to talk, she wrote. Important news. I saw no harm in agreeing. I gave her my address and number, asking her to call before arriving.
She turned up a week later. I met her at the stationshe seemed uneasy. Stepping into the flat, she murmured, Its nice here. Pity youll have to leave soon. Over tea, she unravelled everything: Oliver was my half-brother. She didnt know details, but claimed this was why our grandmother left everything to Beatrice instead of splitting it between the sisters.
Charlotte told me Dad had first been with Beatrice, abandoned her upon learning she was pregnant, then married Mum. Mum and Oliver are coming for their share, she warned. Be ready.
I was stunned. Oliver wouldnt get a pennythe flat was legally mine, Dads savings (kept at home, distrustful of banks), and the car Id bought myself. Everything he owned was now mine. The half-brother story seemed absurdDad worshipped Mum. But life has its twists.
Thanks for the warning, Charlotte, I said. Let them come if they dare. Theyll leave with nothing but their lies.
And so, I steeled myself to face them, certain that truth, as ever, would prevail.
