PART 3
I recognized the letterhead immediately.
It was from the auction house.
Grandma had apparently obtained a copy of the original appraisal and sale record.
Andrew spoke for the first time.
“The cello was not merely valuable. It was a documented historical instrument. The appraisal conducted three years ago estimated its fair market value at approximately eighty-seven thousand dollars.”
Dad stiffened.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No,” Andrew replied. “But this does.”
He handed Grandma another paper.
She passed it to me.
At the top was a photograph.
Lucy’s cello.
The exact cello.
Below it was a description of its maker, age, provenance, and estimated value.
My stomach tightened.
Then I saw something that made my fingers go cold.
The cello had been listed as belonging to Lucy Emily Carter, age eleven.
Not my parents.
Not my mother.
Not my father.
Lucy.
My daughter.
I looked at Grandma.
“You already had this?”
“I had a copy of the original gift documentation,” she said.
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“You planned this?”
“No,” Grandma said. “Your behavior planned it for me.”
Rachel finally stepped away from the counter.
“This is ridiculous. We’re talking about a piece of wood.”
Grandma looked at her.
“A piece of wood?”
Rachel’s confidence disappeared slightly.
Grandma pointed toward the pool.
“That pool is concrete, tile, pumps, plumbing, and money. But nobody is going to remember it.”
She turned toward Lucy.
“That cello carried your great-grandfather’s fingerprints.”
Lucy looked down.
Grandma continued.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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