Brady's Letters

**Brady's Letters** are letters that Brady Kane wrote before his death.

## Callahan's Letter

*Callahan,*

*If you’re reading this version of my final letter, that means I must have passed before we talked out our differences and forgave one another for what we said. While I’m devastated that this is the case, I want to make things right between us with my last will and testament. They say money can’t solve everything, but I’m sure it can motivate you and your brothers to step outside of your comfort zones and embrace something new. Out of my three grandchildren, you were always the risk-taker, so I hope you rise to one more challenge for me.*

*Between us, I tried not to play favorites, but you made it nearly impossible. There is something special about you—something that your brothers and father lack—that draws people in. You always had this light within you that couldn’t be snuffed out.*

*At least not by anyone but you.*

*It hurt me to watch what made you unique disappear as alcohol and drugs became your crutch. At first, I excused it because you were young and immature. I thought maybe you’d outgrow it. After rehab, you seemed better. It wasn’t until I really spent time with you at the lake a few years later that I realized you just got better at hiding it.*

*I will always regret the things I said to you during our last talk. Back then, I was angry at myself for not stepping in sooner—for not at least checking in on you once you were permanently benched from hockey—and doing the bare minimum because I was too consumed by my job to take the time. You were suffering after your injury in a way none of us could understand, although I should have made an effort to try.*

*I wish I had swallowed my pride and apologized sooner, so you didn’t have to read it in this letter. Better yet, I wish I had never used your addiction against you and said all those hurtful things I did in the first place, thinking it would be a push in the right direction.*

*You were never a failure, kid.*

*I was.*

*Getting sober isn’t a goal, it’s a journey. YOUR journey. And as much as I wanted you to get healthy, I went about it all the wrong way. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t wonder what might have happened if I supported you rather than turned my back on you. Would you have been interested in finding your place within the company because you no longer resented its connection to me? Or would you have been excited to marry Alana and work on giving Señora Castillo all those grandkids she wanted?*

*There are a hundred different ways I want to show how I’m sorry, but my options are limited from the afterlife. Hopefully one day—if you pull yourself together and all—we can be reunited. But until then, my will is the best I can do.*

*So, to my little risk-taker, I have one thing to ask of you in exchange for 18% of the company shares and a twenty-five-billion-dollar inheritance:*

*Spend one last summer at the Lake Wisteria house before selling it by the second anniversary of my death.*

*I ask that no one outside of your brothers and my lawyer knows the true reason behind selling the house until it is sold.*

## Rowan's Letter

*To my sweet little Rowan,*

*Although you’re a man now, you’ll always be the same little lad in my eyes. I still remember the day your mother gave birth to you like it was yesterday. You were the largest of the three, with these fat cheeks and a head full of dark hair that I was sadly jealous of. You sure had a pair of lungs in you and you wouldn’t stop crying until they handed you over to your mom. It was like everything was right in the world when you were in her arms.*

*I know I’ve been busy with work and that I didn’t spend as much time as I should’ve with you all. It was easy to blame the company for the physical and emotional distance in my relationships. When your mother died, I wasn’t sure what to do or how to help. With your father pushing me away, I devoted myself to my job until I became numb to everything else. It worked when my wife died and it worked when your mother met a similar passing, but I realize that it set your father up for failure. And in doing that, I failed you all as well. Instead of teaching Seth how to live a life after great loss, I showed him how to hold on to despair, and it only hurt you and your brothers in the end. Your father parented in the only way he knew how, and I’m the one to blame.*

*As I write this, I’m living in Dreamland, trying to reconnect with myself. Something has been bothering me over the last couple of years and it didn’t click until I came here to reevaluate my life. I met someone who opened my eyes to my mistakes. As the company grew, I lost touch with why I started this all. I realized that I’ve been surrounded by so many happy people, yet I have never felt so alone in my life. And although my name is synonymous with the word “happiness,” I feel anything but.*

*Growing old is a peculiar thing because it puts everything into perspective. This updated will is my way of making amends after my death and fixing my wrongs before it’s too late. I don’t want this life for you three. Hell, I don’t want it for your father either. So Grandpa is here to save the day, in true Dreamland prince fashion (or villain, but that’s going to depend on your perspective, not mine).*

*You each have been given a task to complete to receive your percentage of the company after my death. Do you expect anything less from the man who writes fairy tales for a living? I can’t just GIVE you the company. So to you, Rowan, the dreamer who stopped dreaming, I ask you one thing…*

*Become the Director of Dreamland and bring the magic back.*

*To receive your 18% of the company, you’ll be expected to become the Director and spearhead a unique project for me for six months. I want you to identify Dreamland’s weaknesses and develop a renovation plan worthy of my legacy. I know you’re the right man for this job because there’s no one I trust who loves creating more than you, even though you lost touch with that side of yourself over the years.*

*An independent party will be contacted and asked to vote on your changes. If they are not approved, then your percentage of the company will be given to your father permanently. No second tries. No buying him out. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, little lad. I had to work to make the Kane name what it is today, and it’s up to your brothers and you to make sure it lives on forever.*

*Love you always,*

*Grandpa*

## Zahra's Letter

*Dear Zahra,*

*I apologize in advance if my words are scrambled. It’s hard to sum up my thanks but I’ll try, if only because you deserve to know how much of an impact you had on my life. Even an old man like myself can learn a few new tricks, or at the very least be reminded of the old ones they’ve long since forgotten.*

*Before I met with you about your proposal, I was in a dark place. I felt lost and unsure about myself for the first time in many years. But then you came into my office with a huge grin and all this pent-up imagination waiting to be explored. I was immediately impressed with your sharp mind and honest heart. It took me a while to understand why I felt an attachment to you, but I realize it’s because you reminded me of my younger self. Of someone yet untouched by money, fame, and the expectations that dull even the strongest creative minds.*

*I know you aspire to become a Creator one day. Whenever you feel like you’re finally worthy (Whatever the hell that means—I did all right with a community college education and so can you), I want to help you achieve that dream. So, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, know that you’ll always have a Creator job at Dreamland if you want it. All you need to do is contact my old secretary, Martha, and she’ll get you a contract. No interview necessary.*

*I have one tiny favor to ask in return. As a part of my will, I’ve asked my grandson to become the Director of Dreamland for six months and create a special project meant to improve the park.*

*I have personally selected you to participate as a voting member on my committee. You will be expected to either approve or reject Rowan’s plans.*

*You reminded me why I created Dreamland. Your passion for the park was one I lost along the way and your unique ideas stoked excitement in me that had long since been forgotten. Because of that, I know you’re the right person to help me one last time. It might seem like a big request but you’re one of the people I want to be a part of the change Dreamland needs. So please join my committee and vote for the future of the park.*

## Letter for Seth, Declan, Callahan & Rowan

*To my family, a man’s legacy shouldn’t be determined by how much money he made or how successful he was, but rather by the memory he left behind and the way he made people feel.*

*My way of going about you four earning your inheritance was unusual. Leo warned me as much when I called him at two a.m. after a crazy dream, letting him know I needed to revise the will.*

*Each of you were given a task that I chose based on your strengths and weaknesses. Given that Leo is reading this letter rather than the other one I wrote, I assume the four of you met the requirements asked of you to receive your inheritances.*

*To my son, Seth. I gave you two choices regarding your inheritance. While I had hoped you would rise to the challenge and pick the more difficult path, you went with the easier option of the two.*

*I understand why you chose to get sober in order to receive your shares of the company. I really do get it. Just like I understand that I cannot with good conscious hand them over, knowing you made that choice to benefit yourself.*

*If you truly have changed, then your sons will make the appropriate choice that reflects that transformation. If you have not made amends for the mistakes you’ve made and the hurt you’ve caused, then you never truly learned anything despite my letters and pleas, and therefore are unworthy of receiving your inheritance.*

*To my three grandsons. In addition to you receiving your percentages of the company and your inheritance, I grant you one last thing that I denied you before. A choice. You can choose to deny your father his six percent of the company shares and have them redistributed amongst the investors, or you can choose to give him the shares.*

*Regardless of what you three decide, I hope you learn from your father’s example. What can be given can easily be taken away. Fortunes. Lovers. Family. Don’t make the same selfish mistakes we made because I can guarantee it leads to nothing but an empty life and an equally empty heart.*

*And to my son, I hope you change out of the goodness of your heart before it is too late for you.*