One ordinary day, his mother—who had spent her life as a housewife—received an unexpected letter from the court. It concerned an inheritance she was about to receive from her uncle. Not a recently deceased uncle, but one who had been missing for so long that he was now legally considered dead. Years had passed since anyone had last seen him. Eliot could only vaguely recall the man, remembering a brief encounter from early childhood before his uncle vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again.
The inheritance was a mansion located in a remote outback region, far from any town and surrounded by vast, ancient forests. Eliot’s great-uncle had been a respected businessman in his time, and the estate reflected his success. The company he once owned had already been claimed by closer relatives, and with the court’s ruling—and the consent of the remaining family—the mansion was to pass to Eliot’s mother.
She wanted nothing to do with it.
