Page 23 of The Silence of Hell

“No. Something inside me keeps telling me there’s something very upsetting in there. I want to, but I keep holding back,” I replied honestly.

“Want me to come?” Chatter offered.

I considered his words and then shook my head. “No. Thank you. I’m not ready to tackle that. I’m rather overwhelmed by everything. It feels like nothing has stopped for the last six months.” I sighed.

“Have you been able to talk about it?” Chatter asked.

I bit back a bitter laugh. “No. Shit hit the fan, and the fallout is still happening. It’s been quite disturbing and nasty.”

“Sadly, it usually is when money is involved.”

“Oh, I agree. But my family’s actions were somewhat shocking,” I mumbled, staring off at the lake on my property.

“Wanna tell me?” Chatter asked.

“Funnily enough, I do. Something about you screams ‘trust me’. But I don’t want to bog you down with tales of greed and betrayal. That seems rather dramatic. I need to remember that phrasing,” I said, laughing.

Chatter chuckled. “It sounds mysterious.” He fell to the grass, raising a hand. “Sit and unburden yourself… that was lame. I’m not good at drama!”

“Oh, I don’t know. The way you murdered my… cretin was theatrical. Especially when you drew the gun and shot it!”

“Thought we weren’t going to talk about it,” Chatter said, amused.

“No. That would be cruel.” I plopped down next to him and felt his eyes on my face. “Okay, I’ll start at the beginning. Aunt Aggie was born a Bloodsworth. She was eight years older than her brother Reginald. But as terms of the estate will and trust, male or female, Agatha would inherit as firstborn. This bothered neither Reginald nor Aggie. That was the status quo, and they’d grown up knowing it.

“Aggie wed Uncle Ronald, and they had three children. Two boys and a girl. Reginald married a woman called Janice, and they were my grandparents. While Reginald wasn’t interested in the Manor or the fortune, he got an allowance and had always lived modestly. Janice, however, was. She believed that Reginald, as the man, should have inherited everything. Several times, she urged Reginald to challenge the trust, but he refused.

“Then Aunt Aggie’s children caught tuberculosis. The eldest son died, and he was followed by his brother. The little girl survived. Sadly, she passed three years later when she contracted meningitis. Poor Aunt Aggie and Uncle Ronald had lost their babies, and then Uncle Ronald passed on.

“Janice stepped up her efforts then. Aunt Aggie had no heirs, and Reginald did. My father. And that’s when Aunt Aggie dropped her bombshell. As the beneficiary of the will and trust, she could disinherit anyone she wished for a valid reason. She informed Janice that should she continue her greedy, grasping ways, Aunt Aggie would disown Reginald and Dad. Janice was incensed and challenged her and forced Aunt Aggie’s hand. Reginald completely understood as he had left Janice by then, unable to stand her greed.

“Sadly, Reginald died two weeks after leaving Janice. He’d been disowned, but not my father. Janice was furious. She had lost everything. Due to Reginald’s death and being estranged, Janice didn’t get another cent from the estate. Janice was beside herself in temper but kept her cool. She didn’t want Dad disinherited, but her poison seeped into Dad.

“Dad was two-faced. He plotted and schemed behind Aunt Aggie’s back and yet was as sweet as molasses to her face. My grandmother is a bitter, spiteful person whose hate and jealousy ended up getting my father disowned.

“Dad married a woman who was a social climber, and Mom is very much the carbon copy of Janice. Together, the three of them continuously plotted against Aunt Aggie. Hell, they even used me as a child… until the fight when I was seven. I’m not sure what happened, but Aunt Aggie rejected Dad. And this started the ball rolling.

“Because I was now the sole heir. And I knew nothing of my legacy. When Aunt Aggie died twenty years ago, the estate was put into a trust until I was twenty-one. Mom and Dad sued to get an allowance for me. They were awarded one hundred thousand a month. Naturally, I didn’t see this. But they continued trying to break the will with countless lawsuits, and Janice encouraged them.

“When I hit twenty-one, I still wasn’t aware of what was happening. They carried on keeping my allowance and taking the trust to court and failing. Until six months ago, I heard a fight between the three of them. They were discussing their latest failure and were also very angry at a cousin of mine. I’ll come to that part in a bit.

“Naturally, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I contacted the estate lawyers, and that’s when everything came out.

“Together, we called the police on them. It was fraud, theft, and so many other crimes. Janice was furious I’d discovered the Trust and the fact my parents had been using me for a meal ticket. Sadly, I should have inherited this six years ago. The one thing they couldn’t do was get access to Ravenberry. And thank God they didn’t.”

“That’s a lot,” Chatter said as I breathed out heavily. Anger was still a resident inside me, and it was firing up.

“Who treats their kid like that? It’s disgusting!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, it is. What’s this about a cousin?”

“Him! Rik is a cousin through Uncle Ronald, so doesn’t have an ounce of Bloodsworth blood in him. But Rik believes he’s entitled to this place, too! Rik claims he deserves a part of it because Uncle Ronald was married to Aunt Aggie. I mean, sheesh, come on!” I exclaimed as my frustration spilt out, and I smacked the ground.

“Rik’s not a cousin then?”

“No! How dare he believe he has a claim to Ravenberry, but he has been suing the estate for the last five years and failing!”

“Damn. Some fuckers really want this!” Chatter exclaimed.

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