The next day I headed for the small café just down the street from my work. It was weird to not just eat something from the vending machine like I usually did. It felt like I was doing something wrong. Everything in my life felt wrong ever since I got that letter and made that phone call. Stuff like this doesn't happen to me. My parents told me themselves as they threw me out of the house with nothing.

The memory of my past made me shiver. The questionable homeless shelter that pretty much just let anyone in for the night as long as there was room. The constant jumping through hoops trying to find someone to help me find a place to live that wasn't on the streets. Why offer resources when it is so hard to get them?

I had to shake those memories out of my head. That was all behind me now. At the moment I had a roof above my head, even if the landlord was questionable. There was food in my stomach, even if it was just snacks from the vending machine. Luckily I had a food card that helped pay for the meals I had at home, even if it wasn't much. My job was low paying but at least it was putting money in my bank account to pay bills. I was surviving and that was a blessing in itself.

When I got to the café, I saw a young woman standing just outside like she was waiting for someone. She looked very professional in her black pencil skirt and red button up blouse. Her black hair hung just past her shoulders as she took in her sights. The woman looked beautiful, so beautiful that she even took my breath away. Then she spotted me and smiled, "Vanessa Nelson, I assume."

All I could do was nod my head. The woman had left me completely speechless. She wasn't at all what I was expecting. I was pretty sure that I was just standing there staring at her with my mouth wide open. Luckily she acted like she didn't notice, if she did at all.

Kate motioned to a small table just outside of the café with a kind smile on her face, "Please have a seat. I hope you don't mind, but I already ordered for the both of us."

In all honesty, I was sure that I was going to have to pay for my own lunch. While at work I had studied the menu of the place looking for the cheapest option that didn't show how poor I really was. But now I wasn't sure I was okay with her ordering a meal for me as well. This woman hardly knew me and yet she was showing so much kindness.

"I know this is all a complete shock to you," she said as we took our seats. Kate didn't waste time to pull out a folder full of papers, "I'll try to make this as easy for you as possible."

"Is this how it usually goes?" I heard myself ask, "This whole inheritance process?"

Kate sighed as she placed the folder on the table. She shook her head before answering, "Your great aunt didn't trust many people. In her will she made our law firm responsible to handle everything. We are even the law firm that helped her authenticate her will when she signed it. This isn't a usual process, but nothing with your great aunt was."

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"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"We've been working on this with your great aunt for years," Kate explained, "She wanted to make sure everything was in order as if she knew that she would either die, or in this case, disappear."

"So what do I have to do?" I continued to ask questions.

Kate opened up the folder and turned it towards me, "Just sign the dotted line for the deed transfer and fill the form to transfer funds to your bank account. Once that is done, I'll set up a date and time to take you to your new estate."

This all looked too good to be true. This was all too easy that it was hard to believe. There had to be a catch somewhere. There was always a catch. That was just how the world worked for me. No one showed me kindness after I was thrown on the streets. Everyone thought that it was what was best for me.

"Why me?" I asked on last question.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows? All I know is that she wanted you and only you on her will."

I guess that was going to be the biggest mystery in this whole life changing story. Why did the lonely old woman leave everything to poor me? My whole life I was sure that she didn't even know I existed. If we ever met, I couldn't remember. My family did everything to warn me against her. Warning me to never get lost in the clouds or I would end up just like my great aunt. Old and alone. But isn't that how I was living now?

Picking up the pen, I remembered the last time I saw my parents. Announcing that I wasn't going to go by the norm that they created for me. The forceful removal from their home and the door closing in my face. I was living just like my great aunt now. How different would it be if I signed these papers? My parents still wouldn't want anything to do with me.

After a few more minutes of hesitation, I started to sign and fill out the form. It wasn't hard to do since I practically looked at my bank account every hour of every day. Hoping that some miracle would happen and it would no longer be empty. Of course that hope never came true, until now.

Once I was done, I closed the folder and pushed it back towards Kate.

"Can we make the meeting as soon as possible? I'd like to move out of my apartment soon," I told her. What I didn't tell her that with the increase in rent, I was most likely going to get kicked out by the end of the month. There was no telling with the landlord I had. I'm sure he would offer other "options" to keep a roof over my head and I wasn't that desperate.