The True Heiress

Chapter 3

      Chapter 3

     POV: Melody Jones

            Tobias Hawthorne II. My full name.  Not what it should be, but it is who I grew up with. You'll find out just what I mean by that in a short amount of time. You might recognize my name, or you might not. My father, Tobias Hawthorne, is a billionaire. One of the richest men in America. He has a certain way of doing things, and that was by puzzles and riddles. I would one day inherit the throne and the kingdom that my father had built up for himself.  After I found out what I did, I knew I didn't deserve that future, I couldn't go back. Whether I am dead or alive, you are technically the heiress to that fortune now, but that is not what I want for you. If you are reading these letters, it means that your adoptive parents gave them to you, and I have successfully hid and protected you from them. Now, what I am about to tell you is not about you, it is my life story and what led that fire.

    I grew up with 2 sisters, Skye and Zara, I was the youngest of us. We were Hawthornes, and so we thought like Hawthornes. While we all played our father's games, I always won, and I was the heir. They loved me just as so, they were more concentrated on other things in life. I was my father's son, or so I thought. S, Z and I had a great relationship, but all hell broke loose when I found out who I really was. I wasn't a Hawthorne, I was a Laughlin. Skye and Zara aren't my siblings, the Laughlin daughters are. They are probably around your age now, or slightly older. I am not the youngest, I am the oldest. I was given away because my real mother was too young for me. My "mother" faked her pregnancy and had me as her own. My real family didn't even know who I was until it was too late. They didn't know that their own baby had ended up on the same estate that they lived in, they thought I was off somewhere with a foster family. Until I was too far gone to care. I was so angry the day that I found out. I just couldn't cope with it, I was using and I couldn't stop. So my father sent me away, when I was clean I was still too angry to go back. Angry with myself for choosing that path, and angry at everyone else in my life too. I wanted to cause Tobias Hawthorne as much pain as I could. It was just a crazy idea at first, the fire I mean. I didn't actually mean to do it, but my friends encouraged me and I was too angry to care about how much damage it would cause. Not only to my father's property, but to my life and theirs too. I know it was technically my fault, and I still hold myself responsible. But, knowing my father, even my dead body would not be blamed to protect the family name along with their secrets.

-Tobias Hawthorne II, your father

    That was it. That was the end. All he could tell me was how he and my mother got together. I barely know anything about him and his family. Who are the Laughlin daughters, my aunts? Why was he so angry when he found out that he started using and almost committed suicide? My father didn't answer these questions, he didn't tell me, so I will have to figure it out on my own. My family history is even more complicated than I ever could have imagined. To add to all of this unexplainable information, I have yet to find out who exactly my mother is and I swear I will not let that piece of information slip past me. I am filled with curiosity and uncertainty when it comes to the topic of my biological parents. At least now I understand why they left me, but I must find them now. I know that in order to do that, I must finish reading the 3rd, and final letter that was written to me all those years ago. I immediately drop the second letter that I am holding so tightly in my hand, and unfold the 3rd. This may be the most important one. It could hold the last words my father will ever say to me, or it could just be the beginning of something I may or may not be ready for.

Melody, the one with the most beautiful smile,

I know you probably still have questions, but that is as much as I am able to write in such a short time. Hannah and I, we love you, and always will no matter what. Hopefully, you are at peace with your past now that you somewhat know what could have been. You would have gone to live with your cousins and lived a life with many hardships. You would be trained for the press, you would be the ruthless person that I don't want you to be. I'm sorry that I decided your future for you, but I hope that you are kind, thoughtful, beautiful, and most importantly, clever. I hope you play chess like me, I hope you are so good at it that you could even beat my father, who I could call the Master of Chess.

But, enough about that. I am sure you are everything I wanted myself to be, and more. Please promise me that you will either burn these letters, or make sure that none other than your eyes see them. No one can ever know that I am alive, or that I ever was after that fire. The only people that know are Hannah, Jackson Currie, and now you. If I know myself or my daughter well enough, you will go on a hunt for deeper answers as soon as you finish reading this, and so be it.  Just swear that if you go in search of the Hawthorne family, and find them, never tell them who you really are. Never tell them what really happened to me, and definitely never tell them that I am not a real Hawthorne. No one really knows about that and I would like it to stay that way. If it didn't, it would open many wounds and cause many problems in your life. All that hiding would have been for nothing, remember, they don't know you exist and I will sacrifice myself to make sure it stays that way. I know I can't stop you from trying to meet them, but you must never try to find me. If I am still alive, it means that I have been hiding for over 18 years and if I am found, it would cause chaos in your life, mine, but especially in the Hawthorne estate.

I love you, I love you, I love you and always will. You are my daughter and I am your father. For that, I will never be too far away, dead or alive.

-Tobias Hawthorne II, your father

I think that was it, but when I look back at the package, I see one more paper. It is not a letter but rather a poem, or could it be a riddle? Dad said that... wait, dad? I'll just call him Toby. Anyway, Toby said that the Hawthornes love riddles and puzzles, so this must be something like that. I don't know what it could mean, but I will find the meaning of it. If this leads me somewhere, I will go there and get all the answers I need no matter what. I slowly read the first words on the page in front of me

One last game. But this time, I won't be playing it, you will. It's family tradition.

Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Love, dad

--------------------------------

Thank you for reading!

Please vote and comment, thank you!

Add this story to your library to get notifications when I update!

1349 words