Gemotions

The lawyer’s office, with its imposing mahogany desk and the stiff-backed chairs, seemed to amplify the silence. Sarah sat, rigidly upright, across from her older sister, Eleanor. The deed for their grandmother’s farmhouse lay open between them. Eleanor, the successful one, with the tailored suit and perfect hair, had already made her intentions clear: the farm had to go.

Sarah had desperately wanted to keep the old house, the place where she’d spent her childhood summers. The sale would tear her heart in two. She swallowed hard, struggling to keep her voice steady. "But the memories…" she began, her voice cracking.

Eleanor merely raised an eyebrow, a gesture that conveyed volumes. The way Eleanor looked at her with such patronizing pity made her want to crawl under the heavy desk. “Sentiment doesn't pay the bills, Sarah,” she said, her voice smooth and devoid of any emotion.

Sarah's face felt hot, her skin prickling. She felt foolish, naive, like a child.