Once the room was quiet, Penelope handed me the real final document, the one that left everything to me and my brother.

That night, I went to the greenhouse where my father used to hide when the world felt too heavy.

Among the pots of jasmine and orchids, I found one last letter tucked away.

“Paige, if you’ve made it this far, justice has finally blossomed.”

“I didn’t do this just to punish them, but to give you the chance to grow your own life.”

The letter mentioned a deed to the land next to my old flower shop, land he’d bought for me.

“The strongest flowers are the ones that survive the cold,” he’d written at the very end.