Chapter 39

Chapter 39

It was a sunny morning as I drove down one of the busiest of the Las Vegas streets. It was surprisingly

crowded all the way through as 1 adjusted my sunglasses for the tenth time since I started driving.

The sun was bright and hot-a little too much of both as it beat down on me. The sudden heat waves

were the things I hated the most about living in Las Vegas, but it beat a hurricane or blizzard any day.

I shifted lanes as I pulled off the highway and onto the familiar road before me. Kids were out playing in

the nice community. It was a pricier neighborhood but worth it.

I smiled as I heard the familiar tune of the ice cream truck several blocks down, probably giving joy to

the kids of Viewpoint Circle.

But ice cream and the heat wave were not what I was here for.

I pulled into the familiar driveway, shutting off my car as I stepped out, locking it with a click of the

remote.

I glanced at the stones lining the pathway heading to the house, seeing four sets of handprints

imprinted into the rocks.

My name was scribbled on one of them, hands far too tiny to be an adult.

It felt like I’d made those handprints in a different lifetime.

When I reached the door, I raised my hand to knock, but the door had already flung open.

Piers, my grandmother’s butler, stood there as stiff and unusual as ever.

“Good morning. Miss Adelaide,” Piers said in a monotone voice.

“Are you ever going to tell me how you do that, Piers?” I smiled, pulling off my sunglasses. “Cause I’d

love to know that party

trick.”

“Practice, Miss Adelaide,” Piers said, his lips twitching at the corner in a way that I knew meant he was

laughing inwardly. “Mrs. Hildebrand is waiting for you.”

He opened up the door, stepping aside as I entered. The place was spotless as ever, but the walls

were quickly running out of

room

Every inch was filled with a photo frame, old and new photos placed together. My grandparents’ walls

were a shrine to every moment of our lives, and I never tired of looking at them.

Our family history was on full display in this house.

Piers directed me out of the house to the backyard where I spotted my grandmother kneeling in the dirt

as she weeded the flowerbeds.

“Thanks, Piers,” I said to him as I grabbed the pair of gardening gloves he offered to me. I used the

same pair every time I came-a light purple with a pattern of flowers over them.

“You are welcome. Miss Adelaide,” Piers said before taking off into the house. I pulled on my gloves,

and my grandmother looked up with a smile as I approached.

“Addie! Come look at these lilies. Aren’t they beautiful?” she gushed, a beaming smile on her face as I

dropped to my knees

beside her.

Sure enough, the calla lilies were in full bloom. The flowers were so bright they almost put the sun to

shame.

“They’re beautiful.” I grinned. “Looks like your garden is doing well this year.”

“Our garden, you mean,” Grandma laughed. “You helped plant it.”

“So I did,” I laughed, leaning forward to pull at the weeds in the garden bed.

“So,” Granda glanced at me knowingly. “What did you really come here for? I doubt it was to help prune

the petunias.”

The weed I was pulling on came out with a pop, the force knocking me onto my backside. I laughed,

discarding the uprooted plant as I glanced at my grandma.

“Am I that obvious?” I smiled.

“Only to your grandma. I know everything, remember, dear?” Grandma smirked, pulling out a stubborn

weed with one good, hard tug. I shook my head, grinning at the ease with which she did so.

“Yeah, yeah,” 1 pretended to grumble despite the smile on my lips. “You’re right, though. I actually

came here for something else.”

“Is this about Corinna’s wedding?” Grandma eyed me, firmly. “Cause you know I can’t share any details

on that. It’s up to your grandfather at this point.”

“No, it’s not,” I shook my head, solemnly.

There were debates about whether Corinna’s wedding should be canceled entirely. Corinna and

Ashton were against it from what I’d heard, but this went further than them.

Ashton’s actions had called our grandparents good names into question which was unacceptable. My

grandfather was a mellow man, and so was Ferdinand, Danon’s grandfather, but both of them had a

line everyone knew not to cross.

Ashton and Corinna had played jump rope with that line.

“I was just thinking.” I sighed, unable to believe what I was about to say, “if Grandfather truly denies

their marriage, what is Corinna going to do?”

“What do you mean?” Grandma frowned.

“A modeling career doesn’t last forever. There’s a time limit on how long she can make money that

way. Especially with how bad she is at budgeting.” I said, nonchalantly. “So I was thinking maybe you

should give Corinna the inheritance.”

Grandma’s hands paused mid-air, and she turned to me slowly with wide, unblinking eyes.

“I beg your pardon?”

I sighed, dropping all pretenses as I glanced up at my grandma, honestly.

“I want you to give Corinna the inheritance. She needs it more than I do,” I said, firmly. “I have my job,

and I’ve been living on a low paying salary for years. Besides, I have Damon to take care of me if I

need it. Corinna, well, I doubt there’s anyone on her side anymore.”

Grandma stared at me, hard and serious, for a few moments. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I

knew she had always wanted me to have the inheritance but…

I didn’t need the money. I never had.

Corinna, however….

I still felt sorry for her. All she had ever been taught was hatred. She directed it at me, but I knew deep

down, she hated. herself, too.

It’s why she piled on makeup, made sure she had the fanciest clothes, and took care of her face and

body as best as she

could. Why she never wanted children.

She relied on others to determine her self-worth, and if she ever lost any of that, she’d wind up in a

place not far from where her mother currently was.

“Oh, Adelaide,” Grandma sighed, shaking her head. She pulled off her gardening gloves, abandoning

them on the ground.

Then, she smiled, warm and kind and loving as she cupped my cheek. “You have the kindest soul. I

knew it on the day you

were born.”

I smiled, leaning into her touch.

“Even after everything she has put you through,” Grandma said. “After everything my son has put you

and your mother through, how is it that you remain still so kind after all these years? You are my pride

and joy. Adelaide. Never forget that.”

“I won’t, Grandma.” I squeezed my eyes shut, her words breaking the dam of emotion I had been

holding back.

All I had ever wanted was for my family to be proud of me. To see that I was strong enough to stand on

my own feet.

“I knew you would be all right on your own,” Grandma continued. “You just needed a little push to

realize who you were meant to be with. Not that selfish boy, but one who had a pure, kind heart like

your own.”

“Wait, you knew?” I gasped, my eyes going wide.

Grandma threw her head back in a laugh, her sun hat falling to the ground.

“I know everything, dear!” Grandma chuckled, then patted my cheek before returning to the flowerbed.

“I think these flowers are looking quite beautiful, aren’t they? They grew up so fast.”

I smiled, resting my head on her shoulder as I glanced at the bed of lilies and roses. Each one shone

beautifully under the sun’s rays, and every delicate petal unfolded. From little seeds to full blooms.

It was a normal sunny morning. Sunshine was good, and Grandma’s embrace was warm. It almost

made one sleepy.

I snuggled in her arms, as if I was still that kid who provoked the war against that boy named Damon all

day long.

“Yeah, they did,” I murmured.