“My parents’ lawyer.”
The laughter around me weakened, then vanished completely.
Warren frowned.
“Your parents had a lawyer?”
Mr. Pierce walked across the wet grass without hurrying, his polished shoes sinking slightly into the mud, his expression controlled in a way that made the entire cemetery seem to quiet around him.
He looked at my bruised cheek, then at Travis’s hand still gripping my coat.
His voice was calm, but it carried the weight of a locked courtroom.
“Release her immediately.”
Travis gave a short, ugly laugh.
“And who exactly are you supposed to be?”
Mr. Pierce opened his briefcase.
“I am the executor of an estate valued at more than two hundred million dollars.”
Rain struck the coffin lids, the umbrellas, and the black coats around us.
For the first time in my life, my relatives looked afraid.
Part 2: The Will They Never Expected
Marjorie recovered first, because greed has always healed faster than shame.
“Two hundred million?” she breathed, then forced a trembling smile onto her face. “There must be some mistake. My brother-in-law was practically a drifter.”
Mr. Pierce did not blink.
“Mr. Voss allowed people to believe that because it protected his household.”
