After My Billionaire Grandfather Died, My Stepmother Kicked Me Out—”You Won’t Get A Cent.”
A Call in the Dark
The Lake View Inn smelled of cigarettes and bleach. Room 112 had peeling wallpaper and a buzzing fluorescent light that made my skin crawl.
I sat on the faded bedspread, hands covering my face, and finally let the sobs come.
“Why, Grandpa?”
I whispered.
“Why would you leave me with her?”
The silence answered back until the rotary phone on the nightstand rang, shrill and startling. My heart lurched; nobody even knew I was here.
I picked up slowly.
“Emily,”
a calm voice said.
“This is Benjamin Hayes. Your grandfather left instructions. He thought of everything, and trust me, all is not lost.”
Friday came faster than I expected, though sleep had been a stranger every night since that phone call. I lay awake in the motel bed, Hayes’s words replaying in my head.
“He thought of everything. All is not lost.”
It became my lifeline, the single thread keeping me from unraveling completely. The morning of the will reading, I dressed carefully, my only black suit pressed with the motel iron, my hair tied back.
No makeup except for a touch of lip balm. I didn’t need glamour; I needed strength.
As I buttoned the jacket, I whispered to the cracked mirror,
“Walk in like you belong.”
“Because you do,”
The Gathering Storm
Hayes’s office tower rose into the skyline like one of Grandpa’s creations: glass gleaming, steel unyielding. My palms sweated as I entered, but the receptionist greeted me with a knowing smile.
“Miss Parker, Mr. Hayes is expecting you.”
Those words alone felt like a victory. Victoria might have thrown me out, but here, my name still carried weight.
The conference room on the 28th floor smelled faintly of polished wood and fresh coffee. Mahogany bookshelves lined the walls, and a view of the city stretched endlessly beyond the windows, a chessboard of lights and steel.
I took a seat at the far end of the long table, heart hammering. Victoria was already there, dressed like a queen awaiting coronation.
She wore a sleek black suit, pearls at her throat, and nails lacquered crimson. She didn’t even glance at me until I sat down.
Then her lips curved.
“Well, well,”
she murmured.
“You actually showed up. Brave, but useless.”
I said nothing. Silence was my shield.
Moments later, the door opened. Benjamin Hayes entered, silver-haired, carrying a stack of folders under one arm.
His calm presence filled the room like gravity. Behind him followed two people whose faces brought me a surge of relief: Mr. Lewis, Grandpa’s longtime business partner, and Margaret Ellis, the housekeeper who had been in our family for decades.
They nodded to me gently before taking seats as official witnesses. Hayes settled at the head of the table.
His voice was steady, measured—the kind of voice that didn’t need to shout to command attention.
“Thank you all for being here today. We honor the wishes of Richard Parker. Every word in this document was his own. My duty is to ensure they are carried out without interference.”
Victoria adjusted her posture, crossing her legs, exuding arrogance. I noticed her attorney sitting beside her, a sharp-faced woman with a leather briefcase.
Their confidence was almost palpable, as if they were already rehearsing their victory speech. I clenched my fists under the table, the weight of every moment leading here pressing down on me.
But then I remembered Grandpa’s words over a chessboard.
“The queen is powerful, Emily, but the queen must be patient.”
So I breathed. I waited.
The Will of Richard Parker
I let Hayes begin. As his voice carried over the polished table, reading the preamble of Richard Parker’s last will and testament, I felt it: the shift of power, slow and silent, like the first tremor before an earthquake.
Victoria didn’t know it yet, but her throne was already cracking. Hayes’s tone shifted from formal to deliberate, his eyes steady as he began.
“To my beloved wife, Victoria Parker,”
he read.
“I leave the residence on Maplewood Drive, including its furnishings and art. I also leave her my vehicles and all joint bank accounts held at First National.”
Victoria’s smile bloomed instantly, smug and poisonous. She turned her head slightly, just enough for me to hear her whisper,
“See? Nothing for you.”
Heat surged in my chest, but I stayed still. Grandpa had taught me silence could be stronger than rage.
Hayes continued. His pause was almost theatrical, drawing the room tighter.
“Those were the preliminary bequests. But Richard Parker was thorough. There are additional provisions.”
The atmosphere shifted. Even Victoria’s attorney straightened in her chair.
Hayes lifted his glasses, then read with gravity,
“To my granddaughter, Emily Parker, who stood by me with loyalty and love, I leave 50% of Parker Global Holdings, including all voting rights, shares, and dividends.”
The room fell into absolute silence. My breath caught.
50%. Parker Global wasn’t just a company; it was an empire worth billions.
My hands trembled under the table. I looked to Hayes, half-expecting to see mischief in his eyes, but he only nodded, calm and assured.
Across the table, Victoria’s nails dug so deep into the armrest I thought the leather might tear.
“This is absurd!”
she snapped, surging to her feet.
“She’s a child. She doesn’t know the first thing about running a corporation.”
Hayes didn’t flinch.
“Mr. Parker’s intent was explicit. He entrusted Emily with his legacy.”
Her lawyer tugged her sleeve, murmuring for calm, but Victoria’s voice only grew sharper.
“This is fraud! She manipulated him when he was weak, dying!”
Before I could reply, Margaret Ellis leaned forward, her quiet voice cutting through the tension.
“I saw Mr. Parker working on this will with my own eyes, Victoria. He was strong and clear. He knew exactly what he wanted.”
Mr. Lewis nodded firmly.
“Richard anticipated every possibility. He wasn’t senile, and he wasn’t deceived. He chose Emily.”
Gasps rippled across the room. For once, Victoria’s mask cracked.
Her face blanched, then flushed red.
“You think this changes anything?”
she spat, pointing at me.
“She may have paper, but I have the house, the money, the influence. Without me, she’s nothing.”
