Chapter 2
I could not move.
The house.
The house Evelyn used like a weapon.
The house Daniel reminded me I “married into.”
The house where I cooked, cleaned, cared for Arthur during his cancer, and swallowed insult after insult because I had nowhere else to go.
Arthur had left it to me.
Not Daniel.
Not Evelyn.
Me.
Daniel snatched the paper from Robert.
“This is fake.”
Robert did not blink.
“I drafted it.”
Evelyn’s voice shook.
“Arthur would never.”
“He did,” Robert said. “After Claire cared for him while you were in Palm Beach.”
Aunt Linda gasped.
Evelyn turned on her.
“Be quiet.”
Robert placed another document on the table.
“And this is the letter Arthur left.”
My burned hand throbbed.
I barely felt it.
Robert looked at me gently.
“May I read it?”
I nodded.
His voice softened.
Claire,
If you are hearing this, Evelyn has shown you the version of herself I failed to stop. I am sorry. You gave me dignity when my own family gave me impatience. This house is yours because it became a home only when you entered it.
Tears blurred the room.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Evelyn whispered, “He was sick. He didn’t know what he signed.”
Robert’s face hardened.
“He had two competency evaluations. Both are attached.”
Daniel looked at me with sudden panic.
“Claire, we can talk.”
I looked at my wedding ring on the table.
“No.”
Evelyn stood.
“You cannot kick me out of my own home.”
I turned to her.
“You just said it was Daniel’s.”
Her face twisted.
Robert cleared his throat.
“There is one more condition.”
My stomach tightened.
“What condition?”
“If Evelyn or Daniel committed financial abuse, coercion, or violence against Claire, their right to reside here ended immediately.”
The room went still again.
Robert looked at my red cheek.
May you like
Then at my burned hand.
“Merry Christmas,” he said quietly.
