Shattered Grace - By K Anne Raines Page 0,2

a red velvet lanyard tied to its top. She took it from the folder and felt her eyes tear up a little.

“Do you know what this key unlocks?”

He smiled warmly. “I’m sure it’s explained in the letter.”

Her eyes moved to the paper again.

“Okay. Well …” he began as he got up from the sofa, “… this is where I leave, and you read.”

The prickle of his stare on her back told her he hadn’t walked out the door. Not ready for the inevitable moment of acceptance, she stood motionless. “And, Grace,” Quentin said softly from the open doorway.

“Yes?” she said, her gaze fixed on the folder.

“You must do everything your grandfather asks in that letter. It’s important.”

“Uh, okay,” she said.

“I’ll just be in the hallway.”

A soft click of the door and she was alone again. The room seemed to drop a couple degrees in temperature and she shivered a little, even though the fire burned hot. The fear of a life filled with solitude held her heart still. The folded piece of paper lay heavy in her hand as she made her way to her grandfather’s desk. She could almost see her grandfather bent over it. Whispers of pen on paper as he conducted business could faintly be heard in the echo of her memory. Tears trickled down her grief-stricken face as she sat in the large leather chair that had wrapped around her grandfather night after night. With the cuff of her shirt, she rubbed the tears from her eyes and began to read.

My Dearest Grace,

There are so many things I want to say to you, to show you, but I’ve run out of time. Sometimes life doesn’t go how we’ve planned or imagined.

My one wish now is that you find a way to forgive your parents. Your mother does the best she can with the cards she’s been dealt. It hasn’t been easy for her. I hope I’ve been able to ease some of her burden by helping provide for you and her. Well, as much as she’d allow me to. She’s a stubborn woman, that one. And your father did what he had to do to protect you. He never wanted to leave you and your mother, but it was the only way. I know you can’t understand that now, but I’m hoping with time, you’ll come to understand, and maybe find it in your heart to no longer hate him.

The key in the folder is a master key. It opens every door in and on the estate. It also opens the safe deposit box at the bank. Quentin has the details of where. You must go and retrieve the contents before your birthday and tell no one of its existence. That’s three weeks, Grace. Make sure you get there before then. It’s not a simple expiration date. Please trust me. I can’t press this enough!

I trusted Quentin with my life. You can trust him with yours, and with your secret as well. He’ll be able to answer many of your questions, but some of them you’ll have to find answers to yourself.

I love you, Grace, with all my heart. Thank you for giving me what money has never been able to buy. I’m sorry it feels like I’ve abandoned you. Please forgive me.

Love,

Your Grandfather,

Christophe Morgan

P.S. Throw this letter in the hearth at once and do not leave the study until it is incinerated completely.

Overcome with sadness, teardrops fell haphazardly from Grace’s eyes to the confusing letter that lay loose in her hand, smearing some of the ink down the page. Grace clung to the letter, reluctant to do as he asked and relinquish the last precious message from her grandfather. She held it tight to her chest as she forced her feet to carry her to the fireplace. After tossing it into the flames, she covered her face and sobbed, watching it burn through the narrow space between her fingers. Several times she had to restrain herself from grabbing it. Once it was reduced to ashes, she remained lost in the blaze, trying desperately to commit every word of the letter to memory.

Quentin was out in the hall, still waiting with apparent protection and answers. Her grandfather had trusted Quentin with his life and had told her she could too. But her secret? Since the moment she had realized she was different from other girls, she had known she was a freak. That’s all she needed right now on top of this. To trust some baby-faced

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