Our Little Secrets...

Chapter 1

“Let’s start this family meeting,” the first lawyer says. 

“Why were we all called here all of a sudden?” one of my relatives asked. 

“I know right we haven’t seen each other in years and now all of a sudden you want to talk to all of us,” my aunt asks. 

Their questions sparked off what seemed like endless complaints, questions, and concerns. 

“PLEASE KEEP QUIET!” the second lawyer said, raising his voice. 

He wasn’t shouting but it was loud enough to make the whispers and the murmurs subside. I sat on the sofa as I remembered how I had sat on that sofa years earlier. When I was still naive and carefree. When everything looked perfect to me. I wish I would have never grown out of that. 

“We are here because we need to read the will of the late Mr. Richardson,” the second lawyer says. 

“Right... we would like to start with our deepest condolences to your family” the first lawyer states as he makes eye contact with most of the family members there. 

Why was I even here... It’s not like I was expecting to receive anything anyway. Besides, my father had died some time ago so why were they bringing this up right now?

“This document as you can see on the screen lists all of the assets of Mr. Richardson. There are a total of 5 houses, 10 pieces of land and savings of 5 million US dollars” 

I look around and I can see people’s faces around me slowly lighting up. They were trying to make it look like they were sad but hearing money lit their faces up. 

Weird... how money was so important for them. Well was I any different? I had alienated myself from my father and yet I came here? I also secretly hoped that he had left me something. So I guess I also cared about the money rather than my own father. 

“The houses are to be split according to who was residing in them” the first lawyer stated. 

“This means that if you were staying in any of those houses you may continue to reside there” the second lawyer clarifies. 

Well, at least he didn’t take away my place to stay in this country. What a pleasant surprise.  

“The pieces of land will be split between my children” the first lawyer continued. 

Children? So I guess I wasn’t his only child after all. But was that even surprising? He was never there and he had plenty of other women over the years. Thinking about that made me scoff a little. It drew so much attention that I realized I just sounded very disrespectful so I try to hide it by trying to sob. My aunt then pats my shoulder. 

“It’s ok don’t worry,” she says. 

I slowly nod. 

“I’m sorry. Please continue” I say with a low voice. 

“Right, can the children please stand” 

I slowly stand and to my surprise, no one else stands up. The will clearly stated children. Was it an error, or did he write that just in case he had other children?

Soon the doors swing open and my cousin walks in. 

“Excuse me who are you?” the second lawyer asks. 

“He’s Mr. Richardson’s nephew” my aunt fills in.

“No... Mr. Richardson is my father” he states with determination. 

“What are you doing!” my aunt snaps. 

“Mom it’s time that we stop hiding this secret,” he says to my aunt whilst maintaining his composure. “People need to know the truth”

The murmurs pick up again. I run my hand through my hair not knowing whether I should keep standing or not. 

So those family rumors were true... That must have been why her mother kicked her out of the house when she was pregnant... Really? I didn’t know about that... I always thought his father had died... Wait I thought the children were all because of the other woman... Oh? So are there more children?  

Those phrases started to hurt me and made me mad. I slowly start to clench my fists and my legs start to tremble. Before I realized it I slammed my fist on the table which in a moment shut everybody’s mouths. 

“Can we keep going” I whisper with a shaky voice. 

Slamming my fist table hurt but at that moment was relieving to feel the physical pain. 

“Yes,” the lawyer says. 

“But it is important that we verify his identity first,” the second lawyer says. 

I shoot an icy glare at the lawyer. 

“We can proceed only when his identity is verified” he replies a little intimidated. 

“He is part of the family so please don’t worry” I reply. 

My cousin looks at me a little arrogantly before sitting down. I follow suit and sit back down again feeling like an idiot for standing up in that moment only to be humiliated. 

“As we were saying the money is to be split amongst the children” the lawyers continue. 

“So since there are two of you it should be simple to split this sum of money between the two of you. That will be 2.5 million dollars each” 

“I understand” I reply. 

“Please fill in the forms with your bank account details so we can start this procedure” the first lawyer states as the second lawyer passes out forms to my cousin and me. 

I fiddle with my hands. So I guess he did leave me something after all. It was a reasonable sum amount of money as well so I guess I had no right to complain. Even though no one as saying anything I could feel everyone staring at me. They most likely thought I was a little insolent rat who was never supposed to be part of the family in the first place.  

“Let’s stop here for today. The children should come back tomorrow to have the last part of the will read” the first lawyer concludes as he closes the envelope with the will. 

When the meeting was done before the lawyers had a chance to get out of the room I ran out of the room. As soon I was out I sigh heavily. This was so overwhelming... I really couldn’t believe it. All of this felt like I was watching an action-packed movie. 

How I wished that I could wake up and realize that my whole life had been a lie and that I just had a very long dream of what I would have imagined my life to be like. I slowly clench my fists but let everything go in less than five seconds. I didn’t really have the strength or power to do anything.

Chapter 2

The following day I’m the first person inside the room and I’m not quite sure what to expect today. My cousin was actually my brother all along! 

I was tapping my fingers on the table and the more I thought about what had happened the more the tapping got faster. Eventually, I just slam the table out of frustration. At that moment the door swings open revealing the lawyers along with my cousin or should I say, brother. They always came in at the wrong moment. 

“Good morning” the first lawyer replies to lighten up the mood. 

“Good morning” I reply with a slight bow. Then I suddenly remember oh right they don’t do that here. I always thought it would be a joke that I would actually choose to mix with a culture that was completely different from mine. Somehow though when things didn’t end well in the family I just decided that if I had to suffer I would rather suffer at the hands of strangers rather than suffer at the hands of those who should be helping you. 

Soon my cousin walks in. I guess I’ll just keep calling him that because that is what he should be. 

“So let’s continue with the second part of the will,” the first lawyer says. 

“Only the children are supposed to heart his part that is why we asked you to come on a separate day,” the second lawyer clarifies. 

I keep silent. 

“So there is a test you need to take first your father states that only the skilled of his children would be able to decipher it” 

“Decipher? Is it a code?” I ask. 

Great... so complicated. Also, I knew nothing about him so he might as well have given everything to his “other child”. 

After that, the lawyers asked a series of questions the majority being general facts about my father. It felt like a competition. Well I mean 2.5 million dollars and more were at stake so it makes sense that this is a little competitive. 

“Ok you both passed the test so you both get to hear this piece of information,” the second lawyer says. 

I mentally start to prepare myself for what was written on that paper. The lawyer glances at both of us. He also seems to be taking a deep breath before reading the document. What on earth was written on that document? He had been so composed up to now so why was it hard for him all of a sudden?

“Dear children you have been chosen for this special task. If you are all hearing this that means that you all passed the test which means that you are capable of handling this task” 

He pauses and looks at us. Again. 

Task? I guess I never realized that the dividing of assets was so complicated.

“To have access to my assets you must carry on in the family tradition of working in government security ” the lawyer pauses again. 

My cousin scoffs a little. I am a little blank right now as this was the last thing I would expect. 

“There’s more to this right?” I ask. 

The lawyer keeps reading

“Under the government jurisdiction, you will be the heads of the security. For generations, our family has been carrying out this honorable assignment. It is my command that you continue with this privilege and the great tradition of our family.” 

“Let me get this straight... this is asking me to be a civil servant?” my cousin replies shocked. 

“This gives you the greatest status more than anyone else apart from the governor of the country obviously,” the second lawyer clarified.

“So both of us have to do this?” I ask. 

“Yes you still are allowed to live a normal life but you will have to be aware of every detail in the current affairs in the country” 

“So then what about the money?” my cousin asks. 

“You can have access to that after you’ve worked at least one year in this post” the first lawyer replies. 

“This isn’t a position that you can give away,” the second lawyer adds. 

“One year?”

“Exactly. The head of security isn’t replaced every day. This is why this arrangement was started by your family. So for generations ever since the founding of this country your family has been playing the biggest role in keeping it safe. Nonetheless, it functions as a normal family. 

“I’m not sure I can do this though.. I mean I don’t even live here” I admit.

“Nonetheless you are still part of this family so you cannot evade this,” the second lawyer confirms.

“Even if I am not a citizen of this country?” I ask. 

“Oh, I hadn’t considered that. Then you may not have to be responsible you could just get your inheritance and leave” 

“Wait why are you pulling out of this? You’re the child you should be taking this responsibility!” my cousin snaps at me.

“I mean who’s the one who stood up when they called out children caused a scene proclaiming that they were the child as well,” I fire back. 

“Whatever” he replies. 

We spent the rest of the time trying to divide the pieces of land and the whole tedious process took a few hours. 

Chapter 3 

Reading this will had taken two days and I was exhausted from it. Today was the final day then I could go back home. Home... no, that word has no concrete meaning to me anymore. I’ll be going back to my residence the place where I have been sleeping for the past few years. 

I really couldn’t deal with another massive secret. Every day was one more secret after another. Like seriously though, first discovering my cousin is actually my brother and that incest took place. Then also discovering that our family works hand in hand with the government and now I had a partial responsibility to maintain that relationship. I really hoped no new surprises were going to come out of this last part of the will. 

“So as we were processing the documents we realized that there is one problem” the first lawyer states.

“Which is?” 

“Ms. Jasmine Richardson or should I say Ms. Sally Roberts we can’t process your inheritance since you disowned your own family. Legally speaking you are no longer the daughter of Mr. Richardson or as a citizen of this country” 

“Right...” I reply. 

“What are they talking about?” one of my uncles asks. Murmurs pick up again. People in this family loved to gossip. 

“She is a citizen of another country and is registered as having no family over there. She does not have any more rights to claim this inheritance” the second lawyer adds. 

“How dare you!” my aunt shouts at me.

“You guys called me here. Anyway, for that, I have DNA results to prove that and it should allow me to legally claim part of this inheritance” I dare to say.

The lawyers scan the documents I gave them and in the end, they decided that it was not enough. Well... it was a trip made for nothing. I guess this was the end there was really no reason for me to come back here anyway right? 

Oh, wait... it’s wasn’t over just yet. Now the family had called another meeting together. This was something about this family that I never quite understood ever since I was young. The obsession with family meetings. Nothing good ever came out of those meetings anyway. 

After receiving a scolding from my relatives telling me about how I was so bad for having disowned the family, the following day I sit on an aircraft ready to leave everything behind. Life was probably going to be harder than it had ever been before when I got back to my residence. They thought they had uncovered my secret. But they were wrong. My biggest secret lay ahead. 

I land and make my way back to my residence or as many of you call it ‘home’. 

The familiar dark alleyway with the overwhelming smell of mosses greets me as I take the final steps before I reach my door. I open the door take off my shoes and take one step inside. A rope is swung on my back causing me to fall to the floor on my knees. I lower my head and I smile a little. 

“I’m back home. I came a little late right?” I start with a soft submissive voice. 

“The only reason I married you was because of that inheritance and you failed to get it!” a crispy voice replies.

“I’m sorry” I reply.

“Mom” a soft voice calls out from the corridor. 

“Go I’ll deal with you later,” he says. 

“Thank you” I reply. 

I get up and walk in the dark house and I feel a pair of little arms around my legs. I pick up my child and lead her into her bedroom and put her to sleep. I tuck one strand of her hair behind her ear as I watch her fall asleep.  

“I’m sorry I tried but I failed” I whisper to her.  

I trusted the wrong people and now I ended up the way that I did. My father’s secret had taken away my only hope of surviving. 

Still in the dark, I walk back towards the entrance of the house. This time a candle was lit illuminating our blood-stained family portrait on the wall. I failed to get my inheritance, now in the darkness, I waited for my fate. 

Another whip and I fall to the floor again. Soon a knife caresses my cheek as sweat drops on my cheek. Actually, it wasn’t sweat and they definitely were not tears... that was blood. But I kept telling myself they were tears or sweat. 

“Because you failed I didn’t get what I wanted from the deal,” he tells me. 

“I’m sorry...” I reply. 

“I should have known that your father changing your identity was not good. Now I can’t get the rest of the money promised” he says frustrated. 

“I’m really sorry... it’s all my fault...” 

“You’re right it is your fault that’s why I have no obligation or responsibility towards you anymore. I can do whatever I want right?” 

“Right... I’ll only be a burden to you” I reason. 

“Since you’re always in the dark let me leave you in the light for once” 

The lights suddenly turn on which makes me squint and cover my eyes. I slowly open my eyes and find the knife above me. Before I can reach it the lights go off and everything turns into darkness again.