Chapter 4 - The Trust
Daniel recovered fast.
“The revised marital agreement,” he said. “Nothing dramatic.”
“Send it tonight.”
“It’s forty pages.”
“Send it.”
Another pause.
“Of course.”
I hung up.
Nora leaned against the folding table. “Anna recorded that before she died?”
“Apparently.”
“Why didn’t you know?”
That question hurt more than I expected.
After Anna’s car accident, I had spent months moving through life like a man underwater. Daniel handled the estate. Nora handled meals. My parents handled Lily. I signed what was put in front of me.
I trusted people because grief made suspicion feel exhausting.
Maybe someone had counted on that.
My email chimed.
Daniel’s document arrived.
I opened it on my phone and searched for Lily’s name.
Page thirty-one.
If I died after marrying Claire, she would become temporary controlling trustee over Lily’s inheritance until a court-appointed review.
That was new.
Very new.
Anna’s original trust named Nora.
I called Daniel back.
“You changed Lily’s trustee.”
“It’s a temporary provision.”
“I didn’t authorize it.”
“It came from your family planning notes.”
“What notes?”
Silence.
“Daniel?”
“I think we should discuss this in person.”
“No. We’re discussing it now.”
He lowered his voice. “Ethan, do not accuse anyone until you understand the whole situation.”
“Which anyone?”
He hung up.
That told me enough.
Upstairs, Lily had fallen asleep against Nora.
I carefully carried her to bed.
When I pulled the blanket over her, the bunny slipped from her hands.
Something clicked inside it.
Not stuffing.
Plastic.
I turned the toy over.
A seam along the back had been cut and resewn.
Inside the stuffing was a tiny black voice recorder.
Nora stared at it.
“Did Claire put that there?”
I pressed the only button.
A woman’s voice played.
Not Claire’s.
Anna’s.
“Lily,” my dead wife said through the little speaker, “if Daddy ever brings someone named Claire into this house, you have to tell Aunt Nora.”
I nearly dropped the recorder.
May you like
Nora whispered, “Anna knew her.”
Then the bedroom window shattered.
