“Do not sign any documents he provides, and do not believe a word he says regarding the estate,” Victoria had written. “Call Joanna Kempton because she has the true copies of the trust and the evidence of every agreement your father signed.”
My mother’s words felt like a lifeline reaching out from the darkness to pull me back to safety. “She knew he was going to do this,” I whispered while tears blurred my vision once again.
I contacted Joanna Kempton that afternoon, and she answered the phone on the second ring as if she had been waiting for my call. “Audrey, are you currently in a safe location?” she asked with a voice that was both sharp and professional.
“I am with Skylar, but my father has locked me out of the house,” I explained while trying to keep my breathing under control. “Tell me exactly what Richard said to you during the eviction,” Joanna commanded while I heard the sound of her typing in the background.
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.
