Chapter 14 - The Last Letter
That night, Marcus found a letter hidden inside his mother's old recipe book.
It was dated twenty years earlier.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
His mother's.
Marcus read it slowly.
She had written about his childhood.
About his father.
About Rosa.
About the family fortune.
But at the very end was something unexpected.
Marcus, if you're reading this, you've finally learned what I spent my life trying to teach you.
Money can buy safety.
It can buy comfort.
It can buy beautiful houses and airplanes and companies.
But it cannot buy someone who will sit beside you when you're hurting.
That's something you have to earn.
Marcus wiped his eyes.
Then he read the final line.
The greatest fortune I leave you isn't the money. It's the people who love you when you have nothing to give them.
Marcus folded the letter.
He looked through the doorway.
Rosa was helping Isabella decorate cookies.
His mother was laughing.
Richard was pretending not to eat the frosting.
Marcus smiled.
Then Isabella looked up.
"Uncle Marcus!"
He froze.
Uncle.
The word hit him differently than billionaire ever had.
He walked toward them.
"What?"
She held up a cookie.
"It looks like you."
Marcus examined it.
It was a terrible cookie.
Brown.
Crooked.
Covered in frosting.
He smiled.
"It's beautiful."
Isabella beamed.
And Marcus finally understood.
May you like
He hadn't needed a bigger empire.
He'd needed a home.
