Part 2 ⬇️

The paramedics checked my temperature right there on the bed.

Still 104.4.

One of them looked at Diane and said nothing.

He didn't have to.

They helped me to a chair while Jonathan stood in the doorway.

Diane hadn't moved.

Her face had gone the color of old paper.

"What do you mean it's in her name?" she finally said.

"Exactly what I said," Jonathan replied.

"Ethan told me—" She stopped herself.

"What did Ethan tell you, Mrs.

Mercer?"

She pressed her lips together.

I looked at her from the chair, still shaking, a blanket now around my shoulders.

"Diane.

What did he tell you?"

She turned away.

"I want to call my son."

"You're welcome to," Jonathan said.

"But I'd suggest you let me finish first."

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a folded envelope.

He didn't open it.

He just held it.

Diane stared at it like she recognized it.

And that was the moment I knew.

She had seen that envelope before.

"Ava." Jonathan's voice was steady.

"Your father didn't just leave you this house.

He left you something your husband has known about since the week after your wedding."

My chest tightened.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Jonathan looked at me with something close to grief.

"Because if you knew, Ethan had no reason to stay."

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What Ava's father left her — and what Ethan had been hiding for years — is more shocking than anything Diane said that night.

Click the link below to read the full story.

The truth changes everything.

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