Lisa looked away.
I pulled the folder onto the table.
She saw the attorney’s letterhead.
Her face changed. “Recognize it?”
Lisa said nothing.
He trusted me.
“You knew what Daniel had arranged, didn’t you?”
Her eyes dropped to the folder.
That was answer enough.
I opened it. “When your brother died, he left a trust for Walter.”
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Lisa closed her eyes.
There it was. The piece I’d been missing for four years.
She saw the attorney’s letterhead.
“Daniel told you about the trust.”
Lisa looked away.
“Didn’t he?”
“Shortly before he died.”
“But he never told me.”
“Apparently not.”
The piece I’d been missing for four years.
“And you knew whoever cared for Walter could request money for his expenses.”
“With oversight.”
“And that’s why you wanted guardianship.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Then make it complicated.”
With oversight.
“I needed money, Mom.” She started crying.
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“For what?”
“My business was falling apart.” She wiped at her face. “Before Daniel died, he told me about Walter’s trust. I’d already asked you for help, and you said no.”
“So?”
Her voice broke. “So I thought the trust could save my business.”
Make it complicated.
I stared at her. “And all you needed was Walter.”
She started sobbing harder. “I was desperate. I wasn’t going to steal it!”
“What were you going to do?”
“Manage it.”
“For yourself?”
I thought the trust could save my business.
“I would’ve put it back.”
I laughed once because I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Of course.”
“He’s nine! What does a nine-year-old need that kind of money for?” she snapped. “It was just sitting there!”
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“It’s his.”
“I know that!”
I wasn’t going to steal it!
“Apparently you don’t.”
She went silent.
I let those words sit between us.
But the worst part of her confession was still coming.
“And now?”
Her silence answered me.
