Chapter 02

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Roseanne

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Roseanne

I am not sure why I've been summoned to the lawyer's office one day after my uncle's funeral. And neither do my sisters.

But still we carpool to the east of town to check things out. Jennie makes a vague assumption about the will, which Harin believes is nonexistent.

As for me, I don't know what to feel.

The current me doesn't know him that much. I doubt the old me did either.

There's no reason to dwell about the will. I've opened my own gallery after my sisters told me that I should, and it's been blooming just fine.

"There's a new will that your uncle left before he passed away,"

The lawyer begins as she locks the chamber door.

I must have been staring at her, my curiosity evident on my face, and Jennie, noticing my confusion, taps me on the shoulder and explains,

"It's for security purposes."

"I see,"

I exhale, and we all turn our attention back to the lawyer.

A stack of heavy folders forms a small tower on the coffee table between us.

The lawyer, whom I estimate to be in her early forties, leans over and carefully extracts a black file from the precarious pile.

I brace for the tower to topple, but it remains stable.

I watch her flip a few pages until her fingers are still. Then, she puts on her reading glasses.

"There it is," she says, more to herself than the rest of us.

"This is the new will submitted to my office three days before he died," she shows us that piece of paper protected inside a plastic layer.

"His assistant sent this to my office along with his handwritten note,"

She adds, handing a small note to Harin.

My sister glances at it briefly before passing it to Jennie, who then hands it to me. I squint at the barely legible handwriting, struggling to make out any of it.

"Note to attorney," the lawyer reads aloud. "Must be processed immediately. X, Ernest."

The note is returned to the file. "I'm sorry," I say, feeling a bit lost.

"But what does this have to do with us? Or me, specifically?"

I gesture toward myself, still struggling to grasp the importance of the meeting. The lawyer smiles understandably.

"I guess it hasn't dawned on you about your uncle's airline company after he's gone,"

Harin and Jennie trade glances. Me? I only frown deeper. "No, that's not my problem, I guess"

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