When my father-in-law, Leonard, passed away, I thought the hardest part of his will would be surviving a year of family dinners under one roof. But as the days passed, the cracks in our family began to show, and a long-buried secret threatened to destroy everything. Leonard had always been a man of mystery, and his will was no exception.
The lawyer gathered us at the family estate to read the terms. To inherit the estate, we all had to live together for a year, with mandatory family dinners every night. Missing a meal or leaving the estate for more than a day would void the inheritance. The room was tense as the lawyer introduced Morrison, a young man tasked with ensuring we followed the rules.
The first few dinners were awkward, filled with forced politeness and uncomfortable silences. But by the third dinner, the tension boiled over. Evelyn, my mother-in-law, broke the silence with a cutting remark. “How long are we going to pretend this is a normal family?” she asked. Her words ignited a heated argument, and my daughter, Katie, revealed she knew about letters I had hidden—letters that hinted at a secret I had kept for years.
Evelyn seized the moment, demanding a DNA test to prove my son Jack’s parentage. The room fell silent as her words sank in. Jack wasn’t Thomas’s biological son, a secret we had kept to protect him. That night, Thomas and I confronted the truth, and I knew I had to do something to protect my family.
I overheard Evelyn conspiring with Morrison, who, it turned out, was Garrett’s son—a secret even Garrett didn’t know. Evelyn had orchestrated everything to ensure the inheritance stayed within the family. I struck a deal with her: I would give up my share to Morrison, but there would be no DNA tests. Jack would never know the truth.
The next dinner, Evelyn played the role of the contrite grandmother, apologizing for her outburst. The family pretended everything was fine, but I knew the truth. As I looked at Jack, so innocent and unaware, I realized some secrets are worth keeping to protect the ones you love.
