Bette glanced around, trying not to touch anything because it looked so old and crumbling, while Tina moved toward the chest and peeked inside. She pulled out couple of moldy newspapers and checked the date.

“This is kinda cool,” she said with excitement, “This newspaper dates a week before my 13^th birthday…interesting.”

Bette slowly approached the chest and glanced inside, “Oh my God…this is my mother’s dowry chest,” she uttered in disbelief, putting her shaky hands on the edge of the chest for support.

“What do you mean by dowry chest?” Tina asked, moving closer to Bette and wrapping her arm around, “You’re shaking.”

“A little…I’m so nervous…it’s all so unreal,” Bette gently slid her finger to some wooden decorations on the outside of the chest. “My mother kept here some of the valuables given by her family to permit my parents marriage. When I was ten, I carved my initials inside because she told me that when I will get married this chest would belong to me.”

They both looked inside and saw a barely visible L.P. right underneath the lock. Tina traced the letters with her fingertips and looked at Bette, “Lizzie Porter?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Bette replied nostalgically, feeling that her tears were coming back. “How did my mother’s dowry chest end up in your family attic?”

“I’m not sure,” Tina replied, thinking about Maxine’s will, another thing she never told Bette about. She glanced at the brunette who was still lost in her memories and thought frantically, ‘Should I just tell her now? But what do I tell her?’

Tina walked toward the niche that she used to hide in and watched Bette from afar, trying to come with an answer. ‘How about the truth…Bette, this chest is here because Christina is actually my great-great-great-grandmother. She survived the shooting, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and your mother gave that chest and your paintings to Christina in her last will and testament. Cool, huh?’

She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, ‘No…I can’t. She is so vulnerable right now and heartbroken about losing her paintings…I would only add more angst to her sorrow. What if she gets mad and leaves me for hiding such important information from her? I’m so confused…I can’t…’