Chapter 6 - Claire's Trust.
Claire had created the trust eight months before she died because her mother left Lily a substantial inheritance.
The money was meant for education, medical care, and the kind of future Claire feared she might not live long enough to see.
I had never touched a dollar except for Lily's preschool tuition and one surgery after she broke her wrist.
The trust required supporting documentation for unusual expenses.
A residential school invoice would qualify.
My hands went cold as I read the payment agreement.
"How did you get access to this account information?"
Rebecca sat down slowly.
"You left papers in your office."
"My office safe requires a code."
"You use the same four numbers for everything."
I stared at her.
I had changed that code six months earlier.
Only Hannah and I knew the new one.
Hannah seemed to realize the same thing.
"She couldn't have opened it with the old code."
Rebecca's eyes shifted toward Gavin.
Gavin took one step backward.
"Don't look at me."
Hannah turned on him.
"Did you go into Ethan's house?"
"No."
Rebecca stood.
"Everyone needs to stop acting like criminals are hiding behind the flowers."
I opened another attachment.
This one was a copy of a petition prepared by an attorney named Vincent Cole.
It had not yet been filed.
The document requested temporary authority for Rebecca, after marriage, to make educational and therapeutic decisions for Lily if I was unavailable.
The phrase if I was unavailable appeared six times.
"What does unavailable mean?"
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"Traveling for work."
I looked at her.
"Or dead?"
Lily made a frightened sound behind me.
I instantly regretted saying it in front of her.
Hannah guided Lily toward Marisol.
"Sweetheart, can you help me find some juice downstairs?"
Lily refused to move until I promised I would stay in the room.
I bent down.
"I will be right here when you come back."
She studied my face, then nodded.
Marisol took her hand and led her into the hallway.
The second the door closed, I turned back to Rebecca.
"Explain the trust."
She exhaled through her nose.
"Havenridge is expensive."
"That isn't an explanation."
"The trust exists for Lily's care."
"You were going to spend her inheritance to remove her from her home."
Rebecca's voice became sharp.
"I was going to use her money to get her professional help."
"Without telling me."
"Because every time I mentioned boundaries, you acted like I was attacking Claire's memory."
There it was.
For two years, Rebecca had treated my grief like an inconvenience she was mature enough to tolerate.
Now I understood she had been keeping score.
My phone buzzed again.
The email came from my home security system.
Motion had been detected at the front door of my house fifteen miles away.
I opened the camera feed.
A man in a gray suit was standing on my porch with a key.
I zoomed in.
May you like
It was Vincent Cole, the attorney named on the guardianship petition.
He unlocked my front door and walked into my house.
