Then Nathan and I got engaged.
And when we chose our wedding date, I knew exactly which car I wanted waiting outside the venue.
Grandpa wouldn’t be there to see me get married.
But his Beetle would.
The day before my wedding, I was at my parents’ house finishing last-minute preparations when a dark SUV pulled into the driveway.
A man named Caleb Morgan stepped out.
He introduced himself as a classic car collector and said a local restoration shop had mentioned Grandpa’s Beetle to him.
I had taken it there a few weeks earlier to make sure everything was perfect for the wedding.
“Would you mind if I took a look?” he asked.
I agreed.
Caleb spent nearly 20 minutes walking around the Beetle.
He checked the engine, leaned into the interior, studied the paperwork I showed him, and kept nodding to himself.
Then he looked at me.
“I’ll give you $70,000 for it.”
I actually laughed because I thought he was joking.
He wasn’t.
Behind me, Derek nearly dropped his coffee.
“Seventy thousand?”
Caleb nodded.
“If Avery wants to sell.”
I didn’t need time to think.
“It’s not for sale.”
Derek stared at me.
Caleb raised his offer slightly, but I shook my head again.
“My grandpa left it to me. I’m leaving my wedding in this car tomorrow.”
Caleb smiled like he understood.
“Then I won’t insult you by pushing.”
He handed me his card and left.
The second his SUV disappeared down the street, Derek turned toward me.
His expression had completely changed.
For years, he had called Grandpa’s Beetle a tin can.
Now he slowly walked around it like he was seeing it for the first time.
“You seriously turned down 70 grand?”
“Yes.”
“For an old car?”
“For Grandpa’s car.”
Derek stared through the windshield for several seconds.
Then he looked back at me.
“Sell it, Avery. We’ll split the money.”
I almost laughed again.
But there was something in his eyes that stopped me.
He wasn’t asking.
He had already decided some of that money belonged to him.
“No, Derek.”
I tried to walk inside, but he followed me.
“Thirty-five thousand each. Avery, do you understand what we could do with that money?”
“There is no we. Grandpa gave me the car.”
His face tightened.
By dinner, somehow my parents were involved.
Dad put down his fork and said:
“Your brother has a point.”
I stared at him.
“What point?”
“That car came from my father. It should stay in the Collins family.”
“I am in the Collins family.”
Mom sighed.
“Avery, you know what he means. Tomorrow you’re marrying Nathan. You’re starting a new family.”
That hurt.
“So getting married means I stop being Grandpa’s granddaughter?”
Nobody answered.
Then Derek leaned back and said:
“Fine. Don’t sell it. Give it to me.”
I almost couldn’t believe him.
Yesterday, he wouldn’t have paid $5,000 for that car.
Now that a stranger had offered $70,000, Derek suddenly believed it was his birthright.
Dad held out his hand.
“Give me the keys tonight. We’ll discuss this after the wedding.”
“No.”
The room went silent.
I walked upstairs, opened my bag, and came back with Grandpa’s folder.
I placed the title, registration, and signed transfer paperwork on the table.
“My name. My car. Grandpa made sure of it.”
Dad read everything twice.
Finally, he pushed the papers back toward me.
“He did transfer it.”
Derek’s face went red.
“So that’s it? She gets $70,000 because Grandpa liked her better?”
“I don’t have $70,000,” I said. “I have Grandpa’s car, and I’m keeping it.”
Derek stood so quickly his chair scraped across the floor.
“If that car matters more than your family, don’t expect us to forget it.”
I looked straight at him.
“You’re the one putting a price on it, Derek. Not me.”
He stormed out.
I thought I had finally ended the argument.
I had no idea he had just made a decision of his own.
The next morning, I woke up before my alarm.
For a few seconds, I forgot about the argument.
It was my wedding day.
Nathan was waiting for me.
My dress was hanging beside the window.
And Grandpa’s Beetle was supposed to carry us away from the venue that afternoon.
Then I looked outside.
The driveway was empty.
I ran downstairs barefoot.
“Mom, where’s the Beetle?”
She wouldn’t look at me.
My stomach dropped.
I opened the kitchen drawer where Dad kept the spare keys.
The Beetle’s spare was gone.
“Where is Derek?”
Dad stepped into the room.
“Avery, don’t start this today.”
That sentence told me everything.
“You knew.”
“No one knew he was actually going to take it.”
“Take it where?”
Mom touched my arm.
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