The notary staff broke the red wax seal in front of everyone. One of them unfolded the will, showed it to his colleague for confirmation, then looked up.
“Which one of you is Miss Mirabelle Holt?”
Slowly, I raised my hand. “That’s me.”
He glanced back at the paper and said clearly, “All assets under Mr. Holt’s name are to be inherited entirely by Miss Mirabelle.”
The room froze.
My aunt’s face went pale. She lunged forward and snatched the will from his hands. “Impossible!”
I couldn’t believe it either. Even if my father had cared for me, now that he had a son, how could he possibly leave everything to me?
The comment section also erupted.
[No way! Sure, he might’ve liked her a lot, but all of it? That’s absurd.]
[Didn’t she make a public announcement cutting ties with him? And now he has a son. Why would he leave her everything?]
[So what really happened back then? Why did she insist on ending things with him?]
While everyone was still reeling, my aunt suddenly burst out laughing twice.
“Why? Isn’t it obvious? Because little Mirabelle learned how to seduce men at a young age.”
She leaned forward, voice dripping with mockery. “My sister died early when Manfred was barely in his forties, a man in his prime. Yet he never remarried and just stayed in that house with this little orphan for all these years. You expect me to believe nothing happened between them? Please.”
My grandmother’s eyes darted slyly before she chimed in, “My daughter’s right. That girl’s been a temptress since she was a teenager. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, hugging him around the waist like she owned him.”
Fury burned through me, and I snapped, “Grandma, don’t make things up! Aren’t you afraid of the consequences, saying things like that at your age?”
But the audience didn’t care what I said.
[Her mom died when she was in high school, right when girls started feeling things. Makes sense.]
[The aunt’s story checks out. Back then, Manfred was still handsome. No wonder he treated her so well. She was basically his young wife.]
[And now it makes sense why she cut ties the moment she got into college. It’s all adding up.]
[But seriously, what kind of man is this Manfred? His current wife just gave him a son, and he still leaves every cent to Mirabelle? What’s his wife and kid supposed to live on? Fresh air?]