Samuel nervously nibbled on the pencil in his mouth as he sat at his desk. Two weeks had passed with no word from Ember on how her search was going. She asked them to trust her, saying she'd call when she found something.

Kali was on the balcony, watching the warm evening sky while he worked to keep himself busy. He had seen little of his family throughout this time. He visited the house once when he was sure his mother was out and scarcely talked to his dad on the phone.

The curtains swooshed, and Kali came to him. She languidly slid her arm up his elbow and across his chest. He covered her hand with his, leaning back on the seat as she stood behind him.

"Still working?" She asked.

"Barely."

She massaged his shoulder, and he craned his neck to look at her face. He watched her fingers hover over his eyes before she pinched his nose shut. He started to sing, sounding like a strangled duck, which amused her. She chuckled and leaned over to kiss him.

His phone rang and he apologised. "It's Ember."

"You better answer it then."

"Hello?"

"Samuel, are you home?"

"Yes."

"Good. I found what I was looking for. I'd be there in an hour. Wait for me."

"Of course." He nodded enthusiastically.

"What did she say?" Kali asked.

He set his phone down and smiled at her. "She says she found it."

"She found it, or she thinks what she found is it?"

"She says she found what she was looking for. I assume she meant the latter. Like I said, Ember knows my mother best. If she called to tell us after all this time, she must be sure what she found is the real thing."

Kali combed her hair back, perching herself on the desk and crossing her legs.

"What do you think you think it is?"

"I don't want to guess. Not when the answer is already on its way."

"I have been guessing all this time, wondering, assessing. My mind wouldn't let it go."

"It wouldn't have to hold on long." He dragged himself closer and rested a hand on her knee, massaging it mindlessly. "Ember won't be wrong about this."

"That's what I hope."

"As soon as we find out, we'll move on. We'll get protection for Flora and her dad, somehow, and we will tell the truth to the rest of the family."

"Your mother wouldn't be too happy."

"Since when did you care."

"Guess I don't. I hate that I feel like I am constantly apologising for everything these days. I wish I could only say we were forced to marry, but I always have to add the bit about Richard. It makes me embarrassed."

"If anyone should be embarrassed about anything, it should be me. You knew nothing. Even more, my mother knew everything, but we both know she isn't phased by her plan. If you don't feel like telling anyone about that, you don't have to."

"Yes. I do. Because your mother can casually throw it around. That would be even more embarrassing."

"She won't." Samuel stood. He stroked her cheek. "My mother wouldn't say it to anyone else."

"Yet, you told Ember."

"My mom will tell Ember. She is capable of that, but no one else. Especially not Giovanna or my dad. She knows how to play her hand and who to play her hand with. My dad is on his last straws with her, and she still needs to maintain a certain image of herself in Giovanna's eyes."

"But not with Ember?" He shook his head. "Does she...did she treat Ember the way she treats you?"

"No, but Ember is the sibling I am closest to. She knows I tell Ember most, if not everything, about me. She is more likely to tell Ember about Richard than anyone else because she'd want to poke at our relationship."

"Right."

"Come on, let's go downstairs."

"She's not here yet." Kali reminded him, but she took his hand and hopped off the table anyway.

"I know. We'll wait down there. Have something to drink and maybe something to eat."

"Okay."

They waited for Ember, and she arrived thirty minutes past the hour she mentioned. He and Kali heard the gates open, and before the doorbell could ring, Kali was throwing the door open.

"Hey. Come in." She enthusiastically welcomed Ember.

Ember smiled and walked into the house. She dropped down on the couch and sighed.

"How have you been?"

"Pins and needles," Kali replied, taking her seat as well. "Waiting for you."

"Right. I got my hands on some files, and I think this is more than not what mom arranged your marriage for."

"Want anything to drink?" Samuel asked.

"No. I am fine." She stripped off her jacket and sat upright. A mask of solemnity fell over her face. "Mom married you off because of our grandfather's will."

"I don't understand. What does our grandfather have to do with it? He doesn't even know."

"Not surprised. He wouldn't have agreed to it anyway. I couldn't get a copy of the will, but I was able to read it. In his will, grandfather stated Flora was to get twenty per cent of his wealth if, and only if, she was married to you."

"Seriously?" Simon was surprised. He had never heard his grandfather say a kind word to Flora in his presence.

"The remaining eighty per cent would go to Mom."

"No. No." Samuel was adamant. "That can't be right. She did all this for twenty per cent? She has his money. She has her money, dad's money. There's no way."

"Think about it. When you married, grandfather couldn't make it. Why? Because he was on his deathbed. We all thought he was going to die. If you had married Flora then, and he did pass, the twenty per cent was hers. So she married you off to someone else, only for him to miraculously recover, and she had to let the marriage last for as long as it has."

Kali began to catch on. "But he fell ill again. Worse this time, which is why she began insinuating we shouldn't get too comfortable with each other. And why she has been so bent on breaking us up."

"Bingo."

"Okay. But why would Grandfather leave such a thing for Flora? That's a lot of money."

"It is, and the reason is because of nostalgia."

"What does that mean?"

"Nostalgia about what?" Kali asked as well.

"Okay, this will be a strange story, but I believe it's the truth behind Flora becoming part heir in his will. When I was young, Mom took Peter and me to my grandfather's place. We were in the greenhouse that Grandmother liked when Grandfather barged in, dragging her along. They were arguing, and Grandma accused him of betraying her by seeking some woman from his past. An ex-girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend?"

Ember nodded at Samuel. "Yes. Apparently, she was the woman our grandfather was in love with, but his parents wouldn't have it. She was poor and below him. You know the drill. But grandmother mentioned her name while they fought. Florencia Jenkins."

"Flora's grandmother," Samuel said, dumbfounded.

"Yes. I didn't know that then. I only remember that grandmother saw this as him being unfaithful and accused him of treating her like a second choice to keep up with a dream. They argued so much they didn't even notice Peter and I, and we were not in the best hiding place. It still didn't make sense when I saw Flora's full name on the will. I thought about it for a long time before the memory hit me. It didn't take long to confirm my suspicions."

"So he adds Flora to his will because of her?"

"Our grandfather is a complicated man. Who knows how his brain works. All I know is that there were two wills in the safe. One was the older one, where Mom was the sole heir to everything. The second was a renewed version, written six months before he fell ill. In that one, Flora is part of the inheritance. Your relationship might have given him hope that he and this woman could still be reunited as a family in some twisted, backhanded way."

"But he never said anything?"

"Why would he. The woman is dead, for starters, and he can't go around spewing such information as if it's normal. No doubt mother would have had a fit."

"So while we were dating, he was waiting for us to become official and get married?"

"Yes. And, while you were dating, you weren't a threat to mom."

"But as soon as Peter told her he saw me shopping for rings."

"And grandfather was gravelly ill."

"She asked me to break everything off."

Ember clapped, looking proud while obviously disheartened by the situation. "That's all this was about from the beginning. She probably thought he would die within a week or a month."

"It makes so much sense." Kali reached out to take his hand. "Think of how he spoke to me the first time we met. He was defensive about Flora like she was his family, and I was an intruder that cut her out. He must have wanted you two together badly."

Samuel remembered. Even then, he had been surprised by his grandfather's protectiveness. Whatever relationship he had with Flora's grandmother must have been strong enough to make him see Flora as family.

"I don't know how mom got her hands on both versions of the will, but grandfather doesn't know about it. He wouldn't give such a document to her or to anyone."

"Mom is mom. She probably wanted to have the upper hand."

"And she got it," Kali added.

"So that's why she did it? For twenty per cent." Samuel thought he had lost the ability to be surprised. "How sure are you about this?"

"I told you. There can't be another reason. Unless there is a file I didn't find, and I read every file. Nothing else hits as close as this."

"What do with this information then? How can we use this?"

Kali smiled at him. "I have an idea." Then she grinned at Ember. "Or two."