I repeated his cruel words, including his suggestion that I find somewhere else to die. “I see,” Joanna replied with a tone that suggested she was already moving pieces on a chessboard I couldn’t see.
“The formal reading of the will is scheduled for Monday at ten o’clock, and I will be there to represent your interests,” she told me. “In the meantime, do not engage with him at all and save every message he sends you.”
The next forty-eight hours were a blur of anxiety and preparation as Skylar and I reviewed the documents on the drive. “There is a video file here too,” Skylar said on Sunday evening as we sat on her sagging couch.
I hesitated before clicking play because hearing her voice again felt like it might break the fragile composure I was maintaining. Victoria appeared on the screen, looking tired but determined as she sat in her library at the house.
“Hello, my darling girl,” she began, and I immediately felt the tears returning to my eyes. “I am sorry that I had to leave you with this burden, but I had to ensure that what we built stayed in your hands.”
“Your father has always mistaken my silence for weakness, but I have documented every transaction he made behind my back,” she explained. “He has been moving funds into accounts for a woman named Giselle Fontaine, and he believes I was unaware of his betrayal.”
My heart stopped at the mention of another woman and the realization that my father had been cheating on my dying mother. “Joanna has the evidence of the secret loans he took from my trust to fund his mistress’s business,” Victoria continued.
“When you go to that meeting, watch his face when the truth is revealed, because he believes he has already won,” she said with a small, sad smile. “I love you more than life itself, Audrey, and I have made sure that you are protected.”
The video ended, and the room was silent except for the sound of the rain hitting the window. “Your mother was a total legend,” Skylar said while wiping her own eyes and handing me a tissue.
On Monday morning, I dressed in a black suit and wore the pearl earrings my mother had given me for my college graduation. Skylar drove me to the law firm of Kempton and Finch, which was located in a grand brick building downtown.
My father was already in the reception area, looking confident and impatient as he checked his gold watch. “I expected you to be late given your current living situation,” he said with a smirk that made me want to scream.
