Chương 12
The urge was so vivid it embarrassed me.
Instead, I pressed my palms against my knees.
“He told me he was at dinner with clients that night.”
Erica looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“I told you not to start there.”
“Right.”
We sat in silence.
Finally, I asked the question I had been avoiding.
“What was he planning before Arthur died?”
Erica pulled out her phone.
She did not hand it to me immediately.
“He asked me to help him find a realtor.”
“For what?”
“A condo.”
“Where?”
“River District.”
My throat tightened.
Curtis had always said he hated condos.
“No yards,” he used to complain.
“Too many elevators.”
“When?”
“March.”
“Did he buy one?”
“No.”
“He asked me to look at listings.”
“Why not use an agent himself?”
“He didn’t want his name attached yet.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“He said Arthur had people everywhere.”
That sounded paranoid.
It also sounded exactly like Curtis.
Erica unlocked her phone.
“There’s more.”
She opened a message thread.
I saw Curtis’s name at the top.
The dates went back months.
She scrolled to one in April.
I did not touch the phone.
I read from where it lay between us.
C: Need something temporary.
E: What does temporary mean?
C: Six months maybe.
E: For you?
C: Eventually us.
My chest tightened.
She scrolled farther.
C: Dad could be around longer than doctors think.
E: That sounds horrible.
C: You know what I mean.
E: I don’t think I do.
C: I can’t make moves until estate is locked.
I looked away.
Erica whispered, “That message bothered me.”
“Not enough to stop seeing him.”
“No.”
There was shame in the answer.
Real shame.
“That’s on me.”
She took the phone back but did not close the thread.
“I asked what he meant by locked.”
“What did he say?”
“That Arthur changed things when he got angry.”
I almost smiled.
Arthur had once rewritten a partnership agreement because a contractor lied about a permit.
“He was afraid of being disinherited.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew he planned to divorce me after Arthur died.”
She hesitated.
“I knew he planned to leave.”
“That is the same thing.”
“I know.”
“Did you know he planned to throw me out immediately?”
“No.”
I studied her face.
I believed that part.
Not because I trusted her.
Because the disgust in her expression seemed directed inward.
“When did you realize he was lying to you?”
“Two weeks ago.”
That surprised me.
“After he threw me out?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He stopped calling.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
“He told me things were complicated.”
“They were.”
“I saw the funeral pictures online.”
I looked at her.
“You were checking.”
“Yes.”
She rubbed her forehead.
“He looked devastated.”
“He was good at funerals.”
The bitterness slipped out before I could stop it.
Erica’s mouth tightened.
“I believed him.”
“So did I.”
That shut down any superiority I might have tried to claim.
We were quiet for a moment.
Then Erica turned the phone over in her hands.
“There’s something else.”
I waited.
“Curtis asked me a strange question in May.”
“What?”
“He asked whether I knew anyone who worked in elder law.”
My body went still.
“Why?”
“He said he was worried someone was influencing Arthur.”
“Someone.”
She looked directly at me.
“He meant you.”
I felt a slow chill spread through my arms.
“What exactly did he say?”
“He said Arthur was becoming dependent on you.”
“That’s true.”
“He said you might convince him to change the estate plan.”
“I never did.”
“I believe you.”
I almost snapped at her for saying that as though her belief mattered.
Then she continued.
“He asked whether family members could challenge changes made by a sick parent.”
My pulse quickened.
“Did you find someone?”
“No.”
“He got angry.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He said he needed to know before Arthur signed anything stupid.”
I looked down at the table again.
That meant Curtis had been worried months before the codicil was signed.
Maybe Arthur had given him a reason.
Maybe Curtis had noticed something.
“Did he ever mention Samuel?”
“Constantly.”
“What did he say?”
“That Samuel controlled Arthur.”
I nearly smiled.
Nobody had controlled Arthur.
Samuel had once told him not to buy an apartment complex with foundation problems.
Arthur bought it anyway, spent two years repairing it, made a fortune, and then admitted Samuel had still been right.
“Did Curtis ever say he saw documents?”
Erica thought.
“No.”
“Emails?”
“No.”
“Anything about a codicil?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“A change to a will.”
“No.”
That mattered.
Curtis’s panic at Samuel’s office had probably been genuine.
I looked at her phone.
“Will you preserve those messages?”
“Yes.”
“And provide them to my lawyer if she asks?”
Erica swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Even if it hurts Curtis?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it makes you look bad?”
That took longer.
“Yes.”
I believed that answer more because it had taken time.
I reached for my purse.
Erica stopped me.
“Vanessa.”
I looked at her.
“There was one other thing he said.”
My patience thinned.
“What?”
“He said once Arthur was gone, you’d leave quietly if he gave you enough money.”
For some reason, that hurt more than the hotel.
Maybe because it reduced ten years of marriage to a price.
“How much did he think enough was?”
Erica looked confused.
“He never said.”
“Ten thousand.”
Her face changed.
“He gave you ten thousand dollars?”
“He tried.”
She stared at me.
“I thought he meant hundreds of thousands.”
I laughed.
This time I could not help it.
The sound came out wrong enough that two students at the next table glanced over.
I covered my mouth.
Erica looked horrified.
“He told me you would be taken care of.”
“Apparently I was a very affordable problem.”
“Vanessa.”
I stood.
“I have an attorney appointment.”
She stood too.
“I can send you screenshots.”
“Send everything.”
I started toward the door.
“Wait.”
I stopped.
May you like
Erica came around the table.
She kept a careful distance between us.
