Gemotions

A tremor ran through Amelia’s hand as she signed the papers. Her brother, Thomas, beamed, already making plans for the vineyard, the sprawling fields stretching out before them. She just felt numb.

The lawyer explained the division. Thomas received the vineyard, a legacy of sun-drenched grapes and rich soil. She, however, received a collection of her grandmother's handwritten journals and a small, tarnished silver locket.

Amelia’s stomach lurched as she read the final line of the will. Thomas kept chattering, but she couldn’t focus. She felt the weight of everything pressing down on her.

Later, she sat alone, flipping through the delicate pages of the journals. Their words, filled with ambition and love, felt like a cruel mockery of her own unfulfilled potential. She gripped the locket, its cold metal a reflection of the emptiness she now felt.