Cassandra pulled out a stack of large books from a box. “What are these?” she asked, brushing dust off of them, sending clouds of dust into the air. She coughed for a few seconds and then opened the first book.

“Photo albums!” she exclaimed. “It’s pictures of me and S when we were little.”


She flipped through the pages and pages of pictures of them at the beach and at the park and celebrating holidays. We were so happy. At least, we look like we were. That was before Grant and Lissie got disowned and Madeline and Theodora were sent to boarding school, she thought. Before Dad died and Mom spent most of her time sleeping. Before S met Charise and stopped caring about me. I hate Charise! If it weren’t for her, I’d still be important to S. But… ooh, she makes me so mad! She’s so selfish, taking my big brother away from me.

Cassandra sighed and shut the photo album, sending another puff of dust into the air. She flipped briefly through the other books. They were all also photo albums, dusty from years of attic storage.

She peered into the box, trying to see if there were any documents or papers in it.

“Nothing!” she grumbled. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t have been likely for me to find anything on the first try, right?” She eyed a nearby box. “Maybe that one.”


“Charise, your mom…” Vicky began. She shifted awkwardly, glancing at Preston. “Well, there’s a lot about her that you don’t know about. Stuff that your dad’s been keeping from you.”

Charise turned to look at her father. “Dad, what are you keeping from me?” she asked angrily. “I have the right to know this stuff, if it potentially affects my life.”

Jeff raised his hand a bit, looking embarrassed. “I kind of told her some stuff when we met,” he admitted. “I didn’t know that she wasn’t informed about it.”

Vicky and Preston stared at Jeff. “What?” Preston gasped,.

“How much did you tell her?” Vicky asked.

Jeff shrugged. “Just that… you know, Dad and Ms. Delorice had an affair, and it led to her and Mr. Marlow getting a divorce.”

Vicky sighed and replied, “Jeff, that was a very foolish thing you did. You should have left it to us to tell her.”


“Well, she does have a right to know, and I figured someone had told her already.”

“Will you please stop arguing and just tell me what I’m supposed to know?” Charise snapped, frustrated.

The group stared at her, startled by her sudden outburst. Jeff hid his smile behind his hand.

“Just tell her. Besides, she’s probably going to get the notice in the mail in a week or so anyway,” Jeff suggested.

“You’re right, Jeff,” Preston finally said. “I should have told her a long time ago.”

“Cut the foreplay, and just tell me,” Charise snapped irritably.

Preston sighed and began to tell the story.


“Charise, as you know, your mother and I divorced when you were very young,” he began. “I guess I never told you the reasons because I figured you wouldn’t understand. That was pretty stupid of me. If I had just told you… well, it’s too late to wonder all that. Here’s the truth, plain and simple. Your mother and I married because she was pregnant with you.”

“Well, I knew that,” Charise remarked. “Pretty much everyone does.”

“After you were born, your mom wanted nothing to do with you. She spent her time going to parties, drinking, doing drunks, fooling around with all kinds of men… things like that.”

“Yeah, I knew that too,” Charise said.


“Well, when you were about a year old or so, she got pregnant. Her main partner on the side was Joel Harris. Vicky’s ex-husband. Jeff’s dad. There was very little doubt that the baby she was carrying was Joel’s.”

“Okay,” Charise said slowly. “Then what happened?”

“I was angry, of course. I told your mother that I wouldn’t stand for her sleeping around. She refused to change her habits. So, we divorced. Not long after that, your mom took a trip to Mexico. And not long after that, Joel died in a car accident.”

Charise thought for a minute, slowly digesting this. “So, Mom had an illegal abortion done?”

“Yes.”


“Okay, so what’s this notice in the mail that was mentioned?”

Vicky sighed. “Your mom was diagnosed with cancer several months ago, and the prognosis isn‘t good. She ignored the signs until it was too late. She’s planning to get all of the important people in her life together so she can give away her stuff. She called me about a month ago to tell me.”

“So, kind of like a living will?” Charise asked.

“Yeah,” Preston replied. “So, now you know. If you get something in the mail from her or her lawyer in the next few weeks, you’ll know why.”

Great, Charise thought. More time spent with Mommy Dearest.