From Shadows, I Rise

l downtown gallery, the kind of place that might have taken a chance on my work a few years ago. Now, they

rtment was small, the rent was late, and the smell of turpentine was a permanent part of the air. Thi

ector, a man whose name opened doors in every major gallery in the c

e would stand in front of her polished landscapes and praise her technique, her understanding of the market, her brilliant future. Then he would walk past my canvases

ese exchanges with a pained look. She'd try to mediate, to say something kind about my use of co

to his favoritism. Everything went to Olivia. The grand house, the stock portfolio, and the entire, priceless art col

mother. I hadn't spoken to her much since the funeral. The conv

thin, reedy, like a sig

Is everyth

t the will, dear. Your father..." She trailed off again. "There's something not rig

mbitious man with a smile as sm

ed, my own voice flat. I was too tired f

cracking. "He said... he said everyone would finally see. Then Olivi

clear voice of my sister. "Mother, who are you

ne wen

onscience. My father had made his feelings for me and my art perfectly clear my entire life. I was the disappointment. Olivia was the

as leaving, I saw a familiar face coming out of a high-end gallery on the ground floor. It was Arthur Sterling, a

?" he called out, h

g. It's good

about your father." He put a gentle hand on my arm. "He was a

chuckled. "Oh, yes. Especially in the las

g, my father thought my art was a joke. He left everythin

. That's not true at all. Your father was a complicated man. He didn't know how to show his fee

into the cris

arefully. "It was too emotional for him, too raw. It made him feel things he preferred to keep lo

aring at him. "What a

pieces. The ones you sold at those small student sho

ss the words. "No. That's impossible

lding a collection, a complete retrospective of your early development as an artist. He told me his plan. He was going to su

ed away from my work-it all fractured. A. North. I remembered that name. A mysterious buyer who had purchased five of my

ise me?" The words fel

that powerful emotion in your work. So he did it his own way, in secret. The will.

se. The sudden rush of Olivia and David controlling everything

pieces. For twenty-eight years, I had believed a lie. I had built my i

g to reveal it, then the will leaving everything to

en heart anymore. It was about my art. My legacy. Olivia and her slick

struggling, adrift artist was gone. In her place

and steady. "Olivia and David. An auction. For 'n

s widened in under

my lips. "They're not just going to sell his co

r my father's love was over, but the figh