The True Heiress

Chapter 1

Prologue

POV: Unknown

The bags are packed and waiting right by the door. I have to leave for her own good, she can't raise a baby with someone like me as a bad influence. I already love my future child deeply, but I cannot afford to stay. I have to pay for what I have done, I can never come back here. I certainly can't go back to my old life which was filled with carefree actions, always having someone there to clean up my many messes. I know, "never say never," but this is one promise to myself that I think I will keep forever.  I love her so very much, and damn her and her hippocratic oath which had to save me. There is already a note waiting for her with him, and if she is ever in trouble, I know she will receive it. She knows exactly what to do to find the hidden message that is always underneath the given clues. I just have one last thing to do before I leave the love of my life and kiss her forehead one last time.

I sit down at my desk on the only hard wooden stool left as boxes surround me. Opening up a drawer, I take out a piece of paper, a large envelope, and a black fountain pen. She is still sleeping, and there is only a dimmed lamp as a source of light for me. I quickly sign my name on the last letter. I don't have much time before we have to leave. I finish as soon as I can and start packing the letters one by one into a small envelope. I don't know where I will be when she comes of age, but she has the right to know who she is and where she came from. I must promise to her and myself that she will be able to think like a Hawthorne when the time comes. I finish packing all the letters and insert the bronze queen from my most prized chess set.

I walk up to the door and open it, revealing the outside woods. Looking back one last time at my beautiful woman, I know that the child is in good hands. At least by the time she is grown up, she may be reunited with her real family, while still having the kind of childhood that I would have loved. As long as she reads the letters, she will never stop looking, and I will never forget...

Chapter 1

              POV: Melody Jones

Today was incredibly tiring, as it is my 18th birthday. I am ready to crash right now, my legs feel like jello and I have a slight headache from making one of the biggest decisions of my life. To this day, I have no knowledge of who my parents are or if they are even still alive. But, you know what? Whatever, because I am a strong, clever, independent woman now, but still screwed over from the trauma of having to grow up without my parents with me. I will never stop wondering or trying to find out who they are, or were, but I have nothing to go off of. Even if they had abandoned me while I was barely one, I still didn't know why. I had gone upstairs to prepare for bed, but little did I know that the day was nowhere close to being over, or that I was either about to be given either the best gift of my life, or the worst one that could ruin everything I have built for myself.

I'm on my bed, indecision flowing through me as I consider opening the letters I was meant to read as I turned 18. I don't know what they contain, why I have them, or who they are from. I can guess though, I am assuming they are from my biological parents. I sit contemplating, as this evening's events go through my head, repeating over and over again.

I remember my adoptive parents, Logan and Scarlett Jones, calling me over to sit with them in the living room. It was just after dinner, and I was ready to get some sleep. I remember wondering what could possibly be wrong; they usually leave me to my own devices, being very hands off parents. Yes, even if they left me alone most of the time, it goes without saying that I am extremely grateful for them.

"Melody honey, we have something to give you." Calls my adoptive mother who I now call mom.

"One sec, mom!" I call back as I enter the room and sit down on the large couch. Both my parents were sitting across from me on two sofas."What is it?" My mom nervously twirls a strand of her deep brown hair, her bronze eyes concentrated like she was making a decision.

After a few moments of silence, my dad answered, "Well, when we adopted you, we were given something that was meant to be handed to you around the time you turned eighteen," He handed me a large envelope with my name scrawled in black ink. The envelope was thick, stuffed with what seemed like many letters. The paper was a dark white, the back adhesive halfway open from age.

"What's inside this? Who's it from?" I questioned my parents.

"The thing is, we don't know. The orphanage doesn't know who gave it to them either. When we adopted you,  they simply said to give you this on your 18th birthday," said my dad. "Well, I think we better leave you alone so you can read the letter in peace," and both my parents got up.

My mom laid a hand on my shoulder, "If you need to talk, I'm here. Whatever those letters say, you are my daughter, whether we are blood related or not, and I will always love you." She gave me a warm smile. With that, they left me with the letters and I slowly picked them up and walked to my room and lay on my bed.

These letters had to hold clues to my life. The short life I had no memories of. The life before the orphanage, before I got new parents and a new home. Yet, I can't not bring myself to open them. I don't feel ready to expose the secrets hidden from me. So far the only thing I know of my real parents is that I was left the queen piece of a chess set. I am not sure who it belonged to, or what its importance is, but I assume that it was from my parents. Because I was left with that chess piece, I felt obligated to learn and play chess. Once I did, it just clicked, like my mind was made to strategize and think logically.  These letters might hold the names of my biological parents, but I am slightly scared of what else they may contain.

I sigh. I was overthinking this. It only takes the smallest movement and I could open the envelope, revealing the letters and whatever else was inside. I look up at the ceiling, thinking about all the possibilities this one package holds. I look around my room which has a chess set and table, a bulletin board for any mysteries I intend to solve, and of course the necessities like a bed and desk. I finally decide and hope I won't regret it as I reach for the package holding the letters that now hold the key to my future. Peeling what remains of the adhesive off the envelope, I find it holds three letters, all tied together by red string. I slowly unravel the string and open the letter that was labeled #l. On the bottom, it says MUST READ, so I do.

It reads:

My dearest Melody, ...

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