Chapter 1421
Someone had been texting him from a burner number-a bunch of messages, all weird.
“There’s a chess set in the coffin. Don’t take it out. I put it there p>
“If you’re worried, check it. The chess set’s wooden, totally harmless p>
“If you toss it out today, I’ll just have to make another one and find a way to slip it in again p>
“If you don’t want me disturbing their rest, just leave the chess set exactly as it is p>
“And one more thing-after you seal the coffin, light a candle for me, okay p>
Tarquin’s face was stone cold. He didn’t have to guess who sent it. It was the mystery man. Again.
He put his phone away and went to find the chess set.
He opened the box: inside was a hand-carved, wooden chess set. Even the letters on the pieces were scratched in by hand.
The pieces were a little rough, the letters uneven and downright ugly, some even misspelled.
The craftsmanship was nothing to brag about, but the thought behind it was obvious.
Hand-carved-way more meaningful than anything bought off Amazon.
Everyone knew Kendrick loved chess. It was his thing.
Tarquin had wanted to put a chess set in the coffin at the funeral, but Gideon wouldn’t allow it.
Gideon only cared about money and power. Hobbies like chess? Didn’t matter to him.
Tarquin stood there, chess set in hand, silent for a long time. In the end, he put it back in the coffin.
His dad liked it. That was enough.
Besides, he really didn’t want that guy coming around to mess with his parents’ peace anymore.
If he was right, Kendrick definitely wouldn’t want to see that man again. Accepting the chess set was better than seeing its maker in person.
Tarquin took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and started sorting through the rest of the stuff.
He was searching for something.
When he found a square plastic lunchbox that looked like it was from another era, relief washed over him.
This was what he’d been looking for. Thank God it was still here.
But his relief twisted into something darker.
As he picked up the lunchbox, memories he’d tried to bury crashed over him, all at
once.
It was the only thing he’d managed to put in his father’s coffin.
Inside the box was an old
puzzle-one you could take apart and put back together, over and over is dad had given it to him, and they’d spent countless afternoons piecing it together. s
When his father died, Tarquin was just a kid.
He still remembered begging Gideon to let him put the puzzle in the coffin.
Back then, Gideon was at the height of his power. Every little thing about the Bradford family was his decision.
He never accepted Elizabeth as his son’s wife, so her things weren’t allowed anywhere near Kendrick’s grave.
That year, Tarquin had gathered a bunch of keepsakes from both his parents, wanting to bury them with his father.
But Gideon wouldn’t have it.
He wouldn’t let Tarquin put them in—and he wouldn’t give them back, either. Instead, he burned everything.
Right in front of him.
ет
Tarquin had just lost his parents; the pain was still raw. And there he was watching their belongings go up in flames. The loss doubled, tripled. s
He knelt by the fire, sobbing so hard he thought he might break apart.
But nobody cared. Nobody comforted him. All he got was eye-rolls and sneers.
“No one in the Bradford family ever acknowledged that whore Elizabeth
as Kendricks wifel At best.
just some secret fling.” s
Was
“A kid born to some woman like that is just as illegitimate! You’re nothing but a bastard p>
“If you weren’t the only male heir left, you wouldn’t even be allowed back here p>
“Now that you’re back, keep your head down and cut all ties with that woman Elizabeth p>
“From now on, whether you’re here in the Bradford family or anywhere else, you’ve only got a father. No mother p>
“Don’t ever mention that woman again. She’s a disgrace p>
Those words echoed in Tarquin’s mind for the rest of the day, heavy as lead.