Injustice
Mum, Emily repeated, her brow furrowing as she stared at the statement on her phone, Why wasnt it one million? Whyd I only get three hundred and thirty thousand pounds? What sort of number is that?
Beyond the door, the hum of a hairdryer softened, then stopped. Her mother, Helen, answered with a practiced air of calm: Yes, that’s right, sweetheart. Three hundred and thirty thousand.
But Emily had been told shed get much more.
Three hundred and thirty thousand? Mum, wheres the other six hundred and seventy? I was waiting for the full million! Dad left that money, you were supposed to transfer it all to me after selling the flat.
Oh, Emily, not your accountancy again, Helen replied, her voice a nuisance of distraction. You know I did everything properly.
Properly, you say? Emilys feet pressed into the floorboards, which creaked their own complaint. You had the power of attorney to sell my flatmy inheritance from Dad. I asked you expressly to send me every penny. Wheres the rest? Wheres my father’s money disappeared?
Emily felt a cold realisation; relaxing had clearly been premature.
I did transfer it! Helen insisted, the hairdryer whirring back to life. But I did what any decent mother would. I divided it equally between all my children. Each of you got a fair shareyour legal third.
Her legal everything, Emily thought, was supposed to be hers.
You split my father’s inheritance three ways? Between me and them? Emily could hardly say brothers out loud. Mum. That was only for me! My father! We dont even share a father, for heavens sakesurely you havent forgotten that?
What difference does it make whose father is whose? Helen replied, now styling her hair. Its family money. Theyre your brothers. Im your mother. Am I supposed to sit and watch while you spend a small fortune by yourself and the boys are left wanting? That wouldnt be right. I made it fairall even.
If she could only travel back to the day she signed that dreadful power of attorney and give herself a good shake
Even? You split MY million into three! Three hundred and thirty thousand each! Wheres the rest, Mum? The flat was worth more.
Yes, there was a bit more than a million after costs, said Helen dismissively. I rounded it down. Kept the rest for my trouble. Would you have sorted all that paperwork yourself? Nowhile you were busy at work, I was taking care of everything.
As if it was such a hardship for you!
Dont you take that tone! snapped Helen. Your father may have been yours, but Im your mother. I have the final word. And besides, youre the eldest. You dont need as much as the boys. Theyll be starting families soonboys always need a leg up. Alls fair.
And I dont need to start a family? Am I meant to scrape by because Im a girl? Emily shot back, voice sharp as glass. Transfer the difference, Mum. Now.
No.
Short. Decisive.
Helen knew Emily wouldnt stir trouble. Suing your own mother? Who would understand? Who wouldnt judge? And after all, she was still her mum.
Weeks later, finances squared away, Emily noticed something on social media: Peter posing with a shiny blue Ford Fiesta; Tom uploading a snap with the tag My new beauty!
Both brothers had bought themselves modest cars. Well, thats that. Emily tucked her own three hundred and thirty grand away, deciding to wait. As Gran always said, Patience is golden.
Over a year slipped by. Emily worked, saved, and planned. She let the situation go, but she didnt forget. Helen called occasionally, all light chatter, as if nothing had happened.
Then, today, her mothers voice changed to something that chilled Emily.
She tensed, bracing herself.
Whats happened, Mum?
Gran Helen faltered, Peter and Toms gran she passed away this morning.
Emily felt a strange cinematic detachment. That gran, never her gran, had played no role in Emilys lifea vague mums mother-in-law, a gran only to her half-brothers. Still, it was sad.
Oh Emily murmured, politely, Sorry to hear it.
Theres so much to sort: the funeral, papersno time for anything. Im on my own, the boys are lost in these matters. Could you come and help?
It wasnt spite; Emily genuinely couldnt get time off work.
Mum, Im at work. I cant just drop everything and fly across the country for someone I barely met.
Shed never even been invited to that grans home.
Please! Helen begged. I really need you.
I cant come, but Ill help with money. How much do you need? Tell me, Ill transfer it immediately.
Mum hesitated, then quickly reconsiderednever one to turn down cash.
Its not the same, obviously but twenty thousand would help?
Of course. And Ill send you a little extra tooso you dont have to worry about any small expenses. Think of it as my way of paying respects to their gran.
Thank you, Em. Youre always there for us.
Emily hung up, feeling a foul satisfaction. She had bought her excuseshe didnt go, but shed helped. No one could hold it against her.
Six months passed. The funeral faded into the past. Peter and Tom, it seemed, now had new toysmotorbikes or the latest mobiles.
One still Tuesday, Emily decided it was time. She called her mother from the staff room, nerve taut as piano wire.
Hello, Mum. How are you?
Emily! Were well. Toms found a better job, and Peterwell, hes fine. Met a lovely girl.
Im glad for them, Emily said. Mum, I actually wanted to ask something
Whats that? Mums are sharp when the conversation turns.
So, its been half a year since gran passed. I take it the inheritance is settled?
This conversation was harder than the original row over the three hundred and thirty thousand.
Emily, what are you driving at? Yes, of course, everythings sorted.
So Wheres my share of that inheritance?
What inheritance? Her mothers voice was too quick, her old lie-voice surfacing.
From gran.
But she wasnt your grandmother.
Does that matter? Emily guided Helen by her own logic. Im your child. You cant favour one over another, remember? When you split my fathers money evenly, you made sure it was all fair, didnt you?
Emily, this is different! Helen tried to counter, her tone climbing. Completely different!
How? You said everything was family money, you decide because youre Mum, and no child should be left out!
You cant compare
Oh, convenient! Emily shot back ironically. When it was my million, my fathers, you made it family property to be split evenly. But when its about their grandmothers flat, inheritance suddenly becomes bloodline specific?
Dont twist my words! huffed Helen. Are you actually suggesting you have a claim to my ex-mother-in-laws estate? How am I supposed to explain that to the boys?
Im suggesting you used my trust to take a third of what my father left me, all in the name of fairness, Emily said calmly. So lets use your rules now, shall we? You sold their grans flat, didnt you?
The moneys gone.
Gone where? Cars? Repairs? Well, Id like my share too. You always said I should be content with less because Im a girl. Im not content, Mum.
Helen was clearly struggling to find a way out of the trap she had set herself a year before. Always, in their family, Peter and Tom were the golden boys; their stepdad was a father to them, and the world catered to their needs. That gran never accepted Emily, never saw her as a granddaughter. And her mother never stood up for her, either.
Emily, what sort of person are you? Helen finally spat, Why do you even need this money? You work. Youre young, healthy. You dont need much. Tom and Peter need to think about a place of their own. Theyre men! Its more difficult for them!
So your point is: my fathers inheritance was common propertybecause were family. But their grandmothers estate is just theirs, because theyre men and Im only the girl who doesnt need much?
Dont be cheeky, Emily. Where does all this greed come from?
Her mother would never admit she was wrong. Emilyalways greedy, for daring to ask for fairness.
Perhaps youve forgotten, but you were supposed, by that power of attorney, to transfer the full sum from the flat to me. And the statute of limitations hasnt passed. Not to threaten, but
Emily! Are you threatening me? Her mothers voice trembled.
No, Mum. But I can still claim whats mine. Think about it.
A month later, the balance landed in Emilys account with a silent clickand her mother blocked her, once and for all.
