In the two years since Mark’s death, his mother had only rarely included me in anything.

Usually, Mark’s siblings invited me to family events, even though, strictly speaking, I wasn’t part of their family anymore.

It was nice to be included though, and I always made an effort to go. When I received Kara’s invitation to her birthday party, I knew I had to attend.

“You can do this, Melissa,” I whispered to myself, taking a deep breath. “For Mark. For Eleanor.”

Eleanor. The thought of her made my heart ache all over again.

Mark’s grandmother had been my rock after he passed, treating me like the daughter she never had. She’d only been gone three months, and I still found myself reaching for the phone to call her whenever something good or bad happened.

I rang the doorbell, plastering on what I hoped was a convincing smile. The door swung open, and there stood Kara, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Melissa. You made it.” Her tone suggested she had hoped otherwise.

“Happy birthday, Kara,” I said, handing her the gift bag.

She took it without a thank you and turned away. “Everyone’s in the backyard.”

I followed her through the house, noting how nothing had changed since I was last here.

There were photos of Mark everywhere: as a child, as a teenager, as a college graduate — but notably, none of our wedding. Kara had always made it clear what she thought of me.

The backyard was filled with family, friends, and relatives.

Some faces lit up when they saw me, offering hugs. Others watched with barely disguised disapproval.

Emma, Mark’s niece, bounded over to me. At 20, she had always been more like a little sister to Mark than a niece.

“Melissa! I’m so glad you came!” She hugged me tightly, her warmth a stark contrast to Kara’s chill.

“Kara invited me,” I said, still a bit bewildered by the fact.

Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “She did? That’s… unexpected.”

“Tell me about it.”

The next hour was an exercise in patience. I tried to blend in and make small talk, but every time I found a moment of peace, Kara would swoop in with a barbed comment.

“That outfit is quite… casual for a family gathering like this, isn’t it, Melissa?” she said loudly as I chatted with Mark’s uncle.

“Oh, I think it’s lovely,” the uncle’s wife said kindly.

Kara ignored her. “I’m surprised you still come to these things. Most people would have moved on by now.”

I bit my tongue. “Family is important to me, Kara.”

“Ae w really your family though?” she asked with a cold smile. “Without Mark?”

The words stung more than I cared to admit. I excused myself to get a drink, feeling Kara’s eyes boring into my back.

By the time the cake was served, my patience was all but used up.

I had endured comments about my job (“Still at that little marketing firm?”), my appearance (“You look tired, dear”), and even my grief (“It’s been two years, Melissa, when are you going to start dating again?”).

I was picking at my cake when Kara approached again, this time with a woman I didn’t recognize.

“This is Diane,” Kara said. “She’s a colleague of my son’s from law school. They’ve been spending a lot of time together.”

The implication was clear. She’d soon have a new daughter-in-law, and I had outstayed my welcome.

Diane smiled uncomfortably, clearly having been dragged into this.

Something in me snapped.

“Enough of the veiled barbs, Kara. Is this why you invited me here, so you could pick a fight with me?”

The crowd around us went silent. Kara’s face flushed dark red.

“How dare you!” she hissed. “You have no right to speak to me that way in my own home!”

“I’m just responding to what you’ve been throwing at me all afternoon,” I replied, standing my ground.

Kara exploded.

“Get out!” she shouted, pointing toward the house. “You’re not welcome here anymore! You never were! Mark is gone, Eleanor is gone, and you have no place in this family!”

The silence was deafening. Faces turned away, embarrassed by the scene.

I set down my plate carefully, determined not to cry in front of these people.

“Goodbye, Kara,” I said quietly. “Happy birthday.”

I walked through the house with my head high, but once inside my car, the tears came.

I drove home on autopilot, the humiliation burning in my chest. As I unlocked my front door, my phone rang.

Emma’s name flashed on the screen.

“Emma, I really don’t want to talk about what happened,” I started, wiping my eyes.

“Melissa, listen to me,” Emma’s voice was urgent, breathless. “I think you need to come back here. With a lawyer.”

I froze. “What?”

“She didn’t kick you out for no reason. They’re hiding something from you!”

My heart began to pound. “What are you talking about?”

“After you left, I overheard Kara talking to this man in her study. He’s a lawyer, the same one who handled Grandma Eleanor’s estate. Melissa, she left her business to you. The whole thing. Not to Aunt Kara.”

I sank onto my couch. “What?”

“Kara just found out before the party. That’s why she was so awful to you. But there’s more.” Emma’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“They’re planning to hide the inheritance from you,” she continued. “The lawyer said something about fabricating documents. They’re going to steal it from you, Melissa!”

My shock quickly hardened into resolve. “Thank you, Emma. I’ll handle this.”

I hung up and immediately dialed another number. David had been my lawyer since Mark and I got married. He answered on the second ring.

“Melissa? Everything okay?”

I explained the situation as quickly as I could. David’s response was immediate and angry.

“Those crooked… I’ll meet you at Kara’s house in twenty minutes. If they’re trying to falsify inheritance documents, we need to act fast before they file anything.”

Twenty-five minutes later, David and I walked back into Kara’s birthday party.

Conversations stopped mid-sentence as people noticed us. Kara, who had been laughing with a group of guests, turned and froze.

“Melissa!” she recovered quickly, a fake smile spreading across her face. “What are you doing back?”

David stepped forward, his usually friendly face stern. “Ma’am, I’m Melissa’s attorney, David. We need to speak with you and your lawyer immediately.”

Kara’s smile faltered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We know everything,” David said firmly. “And unless your lawyer confesses what you’re planning, I’ll be making a call to the authorities.”

A thin, nervous-looking man stepped forward from the crowd. I recognized him vaguely from Eleanor’s funeral. He glanced at Kara, who gave him a hard stare.

“I don’t know what you think you know,” Kara began, but David cut her off.

“We know that Eleanor left her business to Melissa, not to you,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “And we know you’re planning to falsify documents to steal that inheritance.”

Murmurs spread through the party.

The lawyer shifted uncomfortably, sweat beading on his forehead.

David pulled out his phone. “We can do this the easy way, or the legal way. Your choice.”

The lawyer looked at Kara, then at the phone, then at the crowd of witnesses. His shoulders slumped.

“It’s true,” he admitted quietly. “Mrs. Thompson asked me to… adjust some paperwork regarding her mother’s will.”

The backyard erupted in shocked whispers and gasps. Kara’s face went from red to white.

“You idiot!” she screamed at her lawyer. “That business belongs to me! My mother built it from nothing! Melissa has no right to it! She isn’t even blood family!”

“Actually,” David said calmly, “Eleanor had every legal right to leave her property to whomever she chose. And she chose Melissa.”

“This isn’t over,” Kara seethed.

“You might want to stop talking,” David advised. “We have enough evidence to press charges for attempted fraud.”

The fight seemed to drain out of Kara all at once. She sank into a nearby chair, defeated.

As David spoke quietly with the lawyer about the next steps, Emma appeared at my side, squeezing my hand.

“I knew Grandma Eleanor would’ve wanted you to have it,” she whispered.

I squeezed back, tears in my eyes.

As we left the party, I felt a strange sense of lightness. It wasn’t about the business or the money.

It was knowing that Eleanor had believed in me, and had wanted me to carry on her legacy.