Dawn had always known that her sister, Charlotte, didn’t care about her. But when their father died, she still clung to the hope that they could grieve together, maybe even become a real family. That hope shattered two weeks later when Charlotte stood in the doorway of their shared home, arms crossed, her expression cold and impatient.
“You need to be out by the end of the day,” Charlotte said flatly. “This house is mine now.”
Dawn’s heart pounded in her chest. “What? Charlotte, this is our home! Dad—”
“Dad left it to me,” Charlotte interrupted, waving the will in her hand. “You got what he wanted you to have. It’s not my problem if it’s not enough.”
What she got. Dawn looked down at the only thing her father had left her—an old, worn-out watch, its leather strap cracked with age. Charlotte had sneered at it when the lawyer read the will.
“Guess you were always Daddy’s favorite,” she had mocked. “Not that it got you much.”
The words stung, but Dawn had taken the watch anyway, running her fingers over the smooth, familiar surface. It had been her father’s constant companion, always on his wrist while he tinkered with old cars or helped Dawn with her school projects. It wasn’t money. It wasn’t security. But it was something.
Now, she stood in the hallway of the only home she had ever known, her belongings stuffed into trash bags at her feet.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she whispered.
Charlotte shrugged, not even pretending to care. “Not my problem.”
Tears burned behind Dawn’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Without another word, she grabbed her things, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked out into the night.
For the first time in her life, she was truly alone.
The next few days were a blur. She found a cheap motel to stay in, spending the little money she had left on a room with flickering lights and a barely-functioning heater. She had no job, no savings, and nowhere to turn.
Desperation gnawed at her, so she did the only thing she could think of—she called her father’s lawyer.
“Please, Mr. Alden, there has to be something. Anything.”
The lawyer sighed heavily on the other end of the line. “Dawn, I was hoping you’d call. Your father anticipated… well, let’s just say he knew Charlotte wouldn’t be kind.”
Dawn gripped the phone tighter. “What do you mean?”
“There’s another part of the inheritance,” Mr. Alden said. “One that Charlotte doesn’t know about.”
Dawn held her breath.
“Your father left a safety deposit box in your name,” he continued. “Inside is nearly two million dollars.”
Her knees nearly gave out. “Two… million?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “But there’s a condition. The money only becomes available if Charlotte allows you to stay in the house. If she refuses, she loses everything, and the funds default to you.”
Dawn’s breath came in short gasps. Her father had known. He had planned for this.
“But… how do I access the deposit box?” she asked.
There was a rustling of papers before Mr. Alden spoke again. “Your father left you a letter.”
Dawn waited anxiously as she listened to the envelope being opened on the other end. Then, Mr. Alden read aloud.
“My dearest Dawn, I know Charlotte will try to push you away. I couldn’t stop her from getting the house, but I could make sure you had what you needed. The key to your inheritance is with you already—on the back of my watch.”
Dawn’s eyes widened. She pulled the watch from her pocket, turning it over in her hands. There, etched faintly into the metal, was a series of numbers.
The code.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Her father had known. He had protected her even in death.
It wasn’t long before Charlotte came calling.
Dawn was sitting on the bed in her motel room when the phone rang. The moment she saw Charlotte’s name flash across the screen, she smirked.
She picked up. “Hello, Charlotte.”
“You knew, didn’t you?” Charlotte’s voice was sharp, laced with frustration. “You knew about the money.”
“Funny,” Dawn said, leaning back against the headboard. “You didn’t seem to care about what I got in the will before. Why do you care now?”
Charlotte huffed. “The house has debts, Dawn! Dad didn’t pay everything off before he died, and now it’s on me. I need that money.”
Dawn’s lips curled into a slow smile. “Well, Charlotte, you had a choice. You could have let me stay. You didn’t. Now, I guess you’ll have to figure things out on your own.”
“You selfish little—”
Dawn hung up.
She had spent her whole life trying to make Charlotte love her, trying to be the sister Charlotte never wanted.
She was done.
A week later, Dawn walked into the bank, her father’s watch secured firmly around her wrist. The safety deposit box was opened, and just like Mr. Alden had said, the money was there. Every cent her father had left for her.
It was hers now.
Charlotte eventually lost the house. Without the money, she couldn’t keep up with the payments. It was put up for sale, and Dawn watched from a distance as the house she had once loved slipped from Charlotte’s grasp.
Dawn, on the other hand, found herself standing in the doorway of a small, cozy apartment a few weeks later, the key to her new life in her hands. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was hers.
She looked down at the watch on her wrist, running her thumb over the engraved numbers.
“Thank you, Dad,” she whispered.
For the first time in a long time, she felt free.
She had lost everything. And yet, somehow, she had gained even more.