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Astrology & Divination
Time & Calendars
People & Society
Part One: A Name I Didn’t Recognize
My whole life had always been governed by rules. Every single morning, a strict voice echoed through the house before I’d even finished waking up.
Family
“Sit up straight, Mona. Don’t slouch. A lady always keeps her composure.”
That was Loretta. My grandmother, my guardian, my shadow. After my mother died, she stepped in and took over completely, raising me carefully in her own grand image of what a life should look like. Everything had to be perfect under her watch — my grades, my posture, even the precise way I folded a napkin before setting it beside a plate. It was exhausting. But I tried. I always tried, because trying was the only currency that ever seemed to buy her approval.
When my father passed away, Loretta’s focus sharpened onto the one thing that had always mattered most to her. Control. I remember the exact day everything changed, sitting together in the lawyer’s office, the air thick with stale coffee and something colder underneath it.
“You’ll invest the money wisely, Mona,” she’d told me that morning on the drive over, already outlining aloud how we’d rebuild the family’s legacy from the ground up. “Your father worked hard for this.”
I believed her, the way I always believed her. For years, Loretta’s confidence had felt unshakable, her plans practically infallible, so as we sat in that cold office, I felt certain about what my future was about to look like.
Time & Calendars
“As per your father’s wishes,” the lawyer said, glancing down at the will in front of him, “his estate and money will go to Brenna.”
“Who?” The word escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
The lawyer paused, choosing his next sentence with visible care. “Brenna is your father’s other daughter.”
“Sister? I have a sister?”
“Impossible!” Loretta’s voice cracked off the walls like a whip. “This must be a mistake. My son couldn’t have left everything to some stranger!”
“It’s no mistake, ma’am,” the lawyer said evenly. “Your son left clear instructions. Brenna inherits the house, the accounts, and the stocks.”
“What?” Loretta’s voice climbed even higher, sharp enough to cut glass. “You’re telling me that some child we don’t even know takes all of it?”
Pregnancy & Maternity
I barely heard either of them by that point. A sister. A sister I never once knew existed, for thirty-some years of my life. Loretta’s hand closed around mine, gripping hard enough to pull me back into focus.
“We’ll fix this, Mona. We’ll find this Brenna person and make sure she does what’s right.”
Her words felt like a hand closing slowly around my throat, but I nodded anyway, because defying Loretta had never once been a real option in my life.
For illustrative purposes only
Parenting
Part Two: The House That Leaned to One Side
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