“My mother didn’t choose you by accident.”
My stomach tightened. “What did she do?”
“Open it.”
“No. You tell me first.”
“What did she do?”
“Inside that box is the reason she picked you, and the reason I was too much of a coward to tell you once I found out.”
I opened the latch with shaking hands.
Inside was a cream-colored notebook.
Celeste’s handwriting curled across the page:
- No active parents.
- Minor brother dependent.
- Behind on rent.
- Likely compliant if payments remain consistent.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“No active parents.”
“She studied me,” I whispered.
Jonah lowered his eyes. “Yes.”
“She studied my empty fridge, my shifts, my brother’s shoes. She looked at my life and saw a handle.”
Under the notebook was a trust document with my name on it.
I read the paragraph three times before it made sense.
“Co-trustee?”
“She studied me.”
