‘This is absurd.
We were concerned about him.’
Margaret turned to a page.
‘Was that why you asked him whether the gardens could be subdivided without affecting the value of the main house?’
Vanessa froze.
I had not seen that line before.
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, they no longer looked like a team.
‘You said what?’ he asked.
Vanessa snapped, ‘We discussed possibilities.’
Margaret continued.
Dad had also written that Daniel asked whether Ethan could challenge Claire’s control if the siblings disagreed after his death.
Daniel denied it.
Margaret produced the dated note Dad had written after their golf game.
Then Daniel blamed Ethan.
Ethan finally looked up.
‘You told me Claire was going to sell everything.’
‘I told you to protect yourself.’
‘You said Dad was cutting me out.’
Vanessa turned on Ethan.
‘Nobody forced you to say anything.’
There it was.
The alliance that had frightened me for weeks lasted less than five minutes once there was nothing left to gain.
Margaret stopped them before the argument could grow.
She reminded Ethan that his inheritance under the will remained substantial.
Dad had not disowned him.
That somehow devastated him more.
‘Dad still left me something?’
Margaret looked directly at him.
‘Your father was disappointed in you.
He was not interested in destroying you.’
Ethan covered his mouth with one hand.
I looked away.
Daniel tried one final time.
‘Claire influenced him.’
I almost answered.
Then I remembered Dad’s note.
Do not argue with them.
So Margaret answered for me.
‘Claire did not know the property had been transferred until yesterday.’
Daniel’s expression changed.
He looked at me as though he could somehow determine whether that was true from my face.
‘Yesterday?’
I placed the brass key on the table.
‘He hid it under the roses.’
Vanessa’s eyes dropped to the key.
I watched her remember her own words from the garden.
Those old rose bushes are the first thing going.
She stood abruptly.
‘This isn’t over.’
Margaret’s response was calm.
‘You should speak to your own attorney before making accusations about a recorded property transfer or a deceased man’s capacity.
And I would strongly advise everyone in this room to preserve every message concerning Arthur’s estate.’
Vanessa stopped moving.
Daniel’s face tightened.
Preserve every message.
