Will and Testament // Sequel to the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Thirty-Two

"What happens now?" I asked as we exited Mr Greenway's office at Mr Dietrich's request. He wanted to have a word in private with a man who had disregarded his oath for a reason we were not yet aware of.

"Now, we wait and see what Adam says. It all looked rather promising in there and if the witnesses on the April will can confirm their signature and the date of which it was signed, the February will would be discarded completely," Uncle Christopher said.

"So we might keep the house?"

Father nodded. "I read through the will before we went to the office and the house had been left to us with a portion of the estate and the money also going to Charlotte and Zachariah. Mother and Matilda weren't even mentioned."

"So they created a fake will because they had been left off the original? I wonder how much money they paid Mr Greenway to get him to go along with it," Mother said.

"I doubt they paid him anything upfront, no doubt they promised him a piece of the estate once all the paperwork had been sorted out. Mother lost all of her money, she didn't have anything to offer him until the plot to steal the estate went through. With any luck, this will mean they'll both return to Aunt Sybil's since they have no money to their name and nowhere else to go. If they're not careful, they could end up in debtors' prison."

"Well, even if their future doesn't look too bright, I think we can all agree that someone else's does." Uncle Christopher smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You did well in there, Izzy."

"I wouldn't have been able to do anything had it not been for Mr Dietrich."

"You put up an excellent argument before he arrived, Izzy. You should be proud of yourself," Mother said.

I smiled and readjusted my grip on the crutches, the wood digging into the palm of my hand. My heartbeat had slowed down and my palms were no longer sweating; my head felt clear and I could breathe again. That original burst of anxiety actually worked in favour and, coupled with the anger I felt towards Grandmother for trying to take my home away from me, it became the perfect combination of emotions I needed to make my point.

Still, I wouldn't have been able to make any progress had it not been for Mr Dietrich jumping to my defence and arguing that he had the right to see the will in Mr Greenway's possession. Without him, I would have been thrown out of that office and we would have been forced to leave Grandfather's house before our case had even been heard. I had just spoken the words, it had been Mr Dietrich who sealed the deal for us so I didn't feel like I could take any credit or see it as a precedent for my future.

We stood outside Mr Greenway's office, watching the occasional shadow pass by the window that faced the street and it looked like someone had started to pace. The front door opened and Grandmother and Aunt Matilda materialised through the gap with neither of them looking all too pleased about how it had all panned out for them. They had expected to come away from the meeting with a property and all of Grandfather's money but they had nothing. They would always have nothing.

"How dare you, you insufferable child! That estate, that house, and that money is mine! It always has been! How dare you try and take that away from me!" Grandmother said, narrowing her eyes at me and her nostrils flaring in frustration.

"Izzy took nothing from you. You lost your right to Father's estate twenty-four years ago through your own behaviour. All Izzy did was see through the act, something that we should have trusted her on from the start. You lost Mother, accept it," Father said.

Grandmother laughed a shrill laugh that echoed through the empty streets. "I didn't lose! This is just the beginning, that estate will be mine once more."