Diana. Did you get that email from Dad's lawyer just now?? Please tell me you're the only one who got it
Yes, I got it. I'm still staring at it.
Marcus, he CC'd literally everyone. Mum is on that list. Priya is on that list. Uncle Rob is on that list.
I KNOW. I've been trying to call Hendricks's office for the last 20 minutes. No answer.
That name in the email. "Secondary beneficiary." Do you know who that is??
Lena Vasquez. I've never heard that name in my life.
Ok, so I wasn't going to say anything, but I've been in this chat this whole time reading everything.
Priya, oh god.
I know who Lena Vasquez is.
...what?
She's Dad's daughter. From before he married Mum.
Our half-sister, basically.
That is not possible.
Priya. How do you know this and we don't?
Because Dad told me. About three years ago. He made me promise not to say anything.
I've been carrying this for THREE years, Diana.
Ok, I need a minute.
Marcus, don't go quiet on me right now.
I'm not going quiet. I'm just — how much of the estate is she getting?
Is that really the first question you're asking right now?
Diana, I'm not a monster, I'm just asking.
The email says 20%. The rest is split between us and Mum equally.
And Mum doesn't know. She's on that email list and she doesn't know.
She hasn't replied to the email thread yet. Nobody has except us three.
I need to call her before she opens it.
Yes. GO. Right now.
Diana called her mother. The phone rang seven times. No answer. She tried again. Then again. Twenty minutes passed in silence.
She's not picking up, is she?
No. Six times.
She opened it. The email shows as read. 11:31.
Priya, why are you monitoring the read receipts on Mum's email?
Because I'm anxious, Marcus, that's why.
Voice message — 0:28
I can't, I'm in Edinburgh until Thursday.
I'll come with you, Diana. I should be the one to explain. It was my secret to keep and I didn't keep it well enough.
Ok. I'll pick you up at 1.
Wait. Before you go — does Lena know about us? Does she know who we are?
She knows everything. Dad told her about all of us. She even asked about us apparently. She just... never pushed to meet because she didn't want to cause problems.
She was protecting us.
Yeah.
Right. We deal with Mum first. Then we figure out Lena.
Diana picked up Priya just after 1 PM. They drove to their mother's house in near silence. When their mother opened the door, her eyes were red but she was calm. She let them in without a word.
How is she? Tell me everything.
She already knew, Marcus.
...she what?
She knew. Dad told her years ago. She said she made peace with it a long time back.
She wasn't even angry with me for keeping the secret. She hugged me. I nearly lost it completely.
So we were the last ones to know. The three of us. Classic.
Pretty much, yeah.
She wants to meet Lena. Mum does. She actually said that. She said "your father loved her too and she deserves to know her family."
I need a moment with that sentence, actually.
📷
Hendricks just sent a follow-up. A bit late, mate.
"disregard the CC list" lmaooo
Honestly though. If he hadn't messed up... we'd never have had this conversation. We'd have gone on not knowing.
Maybe some mistakes fix things.
Ok. So what do we do next? Do we... contact Lena ourselves?
Mum wants to be involved in that. We do it together or not at all.
Agreed.
Agreed. And Diana... thank you for driving. Thank you for not being angry at me for keeping this.
I am a little bit angry at you for keeping this.
But I'll get over it 😂
Voice message — 0:22
I'll be there Saturday. Tell her I love her.
She knows ❤️