All in the Game

Chapter thirty-six || The letter

ℳ𝓎 𝒹ℯ𝒶𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝒜𝒷𝒾𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓁 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓃𝑔ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈ℴ𝓃 ℐ'𝓋ℯ ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓂ℯ𝓉. 𝒴ℴ𝓊 𝓇ℯ𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂ℯ 𝒶 𝓁ℴ𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝓂𝓎𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓃𝑔ℯ𝓇. ℳ𝓎 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℯ𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉ℴ 𝒶𝓃 ℯ𝓃𝒹, 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒾ℯ𝓋ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ℐ'𝓁𝓁 𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀ℯ𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒷ℯ 𝑔ℴ𝓃ℯ. ℐ 𝒽ℴ𝓅ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒻ℴ𝓇𝑔𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓂ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓃 ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ. ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉ℴ 𝒻ℯℯ𝓁 𝓈ℴ𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈. 𝒜𝓃𝓎𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓃ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷ℯ 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓁ℯ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝓂ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓎 𝑔ℴ 𝓉ℴ 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓉ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝓎 ℐ 𝑔𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓁𝒻 𝓉ℴ 𝒻𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝓁𝒾𝒷𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝒾𝓃 ℳ𝒶𝑔𝓃ℴ𝓁𝒾𝒶 𝒸𝓇ℯℯ𝓀, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝒾'𝓂 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁 ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝒹ℯ𝒸𝒾𝒹ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ 𝑔𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊. ℐ𝓉 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓃ℴ 𝓈𝒽ℴ𝒸𝓀 𝓉ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊, ℴ𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 ℐ 𝓌𝓇ℴ𝓉ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 ℴ𝓌𝓃ℯ𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 ℴ𝒻 𝒱𝒶𝓁'𝓈. 𝒩ℴ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸ℯ 𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℐ 𝒽𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓎ℴ𝓊'𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℴ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓅ℯ𝓇𝓈ℴ𝓃 ℐ 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉ℴ 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 ℴ𝓃 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓁ℯ𝑔𝒶𝒸𝓎. ℐ 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓉ℴ 𝒻ℴ𝓁𝓁ℴ𝓌 𝓎ℴ𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝓌𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝓎ℴ𝓊. 𝒮ℴ, 𝒾𝒻 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉ℴ 𝓈ℯ𝓁𝓁 ℐ'𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝒹ℯ𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁ℯ𝓉ℯ𝓁𝓎. 𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝓇ℴ𝓂𝒾𝓈ℯ 𝓂ℯ ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈ℯ 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓅ℴℴ𝓇 𝒷ℴ𝓎 ℴ𝓊𝓉 ℴ𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓈ℯ𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀. ℐ𝓉'𝓈 𝒸𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒽ℯ 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ𝓈 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓈ℴ 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝒹ℴ 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒷ℴ𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉? ℐ 𝓂𝓎𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝑔𝒶𝓋ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓂 𝓊𝓅 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷ℯ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁ℯ ℐ 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓁ℯ𝑔𝒶𝒸𝓎 ℐ'𝓋ℯ 𝓂𝒶𝒹ℯ 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂𝓎𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓅ℯℴ𝓅𝓁ℯ ℐ 𝓂ℯ𝓉 𝒶𝓁ℴ𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ'𝓈 𝓃ℴ𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℐ 𝓇ℯ𝑔𝓇ℯ𝓉 𝓂ℴ𝓇ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒾𝓃. 𝒮ℴ 𝓅𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈ℯ 𝒹ℴ 𝓂ℯ 𝒶𝓉 𝓁ℯ𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔. 

𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈, 𝒱𝒶𝓁. 

I'm left speechless from what I've just read. Not only did she leave me half of her inheritance, but she left me in charge of what to do with the eatery. This is too kind and if it were anyone else I might consider not accepting it. However, it's Val and what she wished. Who am I to go against a dead person's wish? 

Wiping the tears from my eyes I meet my mom and sisters at the park. While Aria takes Ellie and the boys to get popsicles, I take the chance to ask my mother something that's been on my mind since I received the letter in the mail. 

"Hey, mom I received some mail today. There was a letter from Val." Her eyes go wide but she doesn't say anything. "Inside said letter she told me she was giving me half of her inheritance, and the eatery...I called her lawyer it's true it was all in her Will." 

She doesn't give anything away so; I decide to ask her about it up front. "I was wondering if you knew anything about this?" She shakes her head.No, Val had her secrets I guess this was one of them." 

"But why me?" Mom raises her brows giving me a are you serious look? "Of course she gave you the eatery! No one loved that place more than you." 

I know she's right but everything seems off. Like don't deserve it. The eatery was her baby if I do something to mess it up I'll be a disgrace to her legacy, and I'm no Val there's no way I'll be able to do the things she could. 

"What do you think you're going to do with it?" 

Despite my concerns I'm optimistic about what the future holds, and I know Val and what she would have wanted me to use the eatery for. "I want to turn it into something completely mine, something classy yet updated, something I know would have made her proud. And nothing would make me happier than keeping her memory alive."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," she says smiling. "You have your work cut out for yourself. But I can't wait to see what you do with the place, and I know if Val were here she'd say the same." 

She would, wouldn't she? The thought brings a smile to my face. To know that I'm honoring her memory the way she would have wanted. "I can't wait to finally have my dreams come to life." And it's a because of Val. Everything leading up to this moment was because of her. 

She's the person who told me to chase my dreams, and gave me the money to do so, and when those failed, she told me to never give up hope, and now this giving me her legacy it's the piece in all of this that's been missing. 

I wanted my place to mean something, and now it can. People will be able to come into my bakery and see Val in the exterior. Feel her in the way you do when someone's watching over you, know her through me because of me. This is all I've ever wanted and more. 

𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷𖧷

Sad but happy chapter today 🥺 Don't worry things will start to get better soon. 

If you're enjoying my book All in the Game. Please click the star and share your thoughts in the comments. I will update chapters every Wednesday so be on the lookout.–Morgan 💕

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