Chapter 1: The Call

Chapter 1: The Call
The ballroom fell silent.
Emily slowly lowered the silver basin she had been forced to hold.
Water dripped onto the marble floor.
Her hands trembled—not from fear, but from exhaustion.
Eight months pregnant, every movement sent a dull ache through her back.
Her phone vibrated again.
She glanced at the screen.
Attorney James Whitmore.
One message.
Your father's will has been officially executed. We are waiting outside.
Emily looked up.
Straight at Preston.
"My father left me everything."
His confident smile froze.
"What did you say?"
She repeated herself.
May you like
"My father left me everything."
Around the ballroom, whispers spread like wildfire.