Chương 5
“I sat beside him at three in the morning because he was afraid to sleep.”
My voice shook despite everything I did to steady it.
“I called your phone when he asked for you.”
His eyes moved away.
“You declined the calls.”
“Vanessa,” Melissa said quietly.
“No.”
I looked at Curtis.
“You do not get to turn what happened in that room into a scheme because money finally made you interested.”
His mouth tightened.
Samuel waited until I sat down.
Then he opened another folder.
“The thirty-percent provision is not the final clause.”
Curtis looked at him.
Something in Samuel’s voice made Melissa straighten.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Samuel removed a single page and placed it flat on the table.
“The codicil executed six weeks before Arthur Bennett’s final hospitalization added a conditional provision concerning Curtis Bennett’s share.”
Curtis’s fingers stopped moving.
“What condition?”
Samuel read directly from the document.
“In the event that my son, Curtis Bennett, initiates marital dissolution proceedings against Vanessa Bennett, removes her from the marital residence, materially restricts her access to marital funds, or otherwise attempts to deprive her of reasonable financial support within ninety days of my death, his beneficial interest shall be suspended pending review by the trustee.”
Curtis did not breathe.
Neither did I.
Melissa slowly turned her head toward him.
Samuel continued.
“Upon documented proof that any such action occurred, Curtis Bennett’s seventy-percent beneficial interest does not vest.”
Curtis’s chair creaked beneath him.
“What does that mean?”
His voice sounded smaller now.
Samuel looked directly at him.
“It means your father anticipated the possibility that you might discard your wife as soon as you believed the inheritance was secure.”
Curtis’s face emptied.
Melissa whispered, “Oh, God.”
Samuel placed the final page in front of us.
“And if that condition is triggered, your seventy-percent share is redistributed according to the alternative provision.”
Curtis swallowed.
“To who?”
Samuel’s eyes moved toward me.
“Fifty percent of the entire trust to Vanessa Bennett.”
Curtis went white.
“And the remaining fifty percent,” Samuel said, “to the charitable foundation established under your father’s estate plan.”
Curtis stared at the page.
“No.”
Samuel did not move.
“No, no, that’s not enforceable.”
Melissa was already reading.
Her lips moved silently across the language.
Curtis grabbed her arm.
“Tell him.”
She pulled free.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Tell him it’s invalid.”
“I need to review it.”
“You’re my lawyer.”
“And I’m telling you I need to review it.”
He looked at Samuel.
“You planned this.”
Samuel’s face remained still.
“Your father planned it.”
“He couldn’t know what I would do.”
“No.”
Samuel glanced at the document.
“He only knew what you might do.”
Curtis turned toward me.
For the first time since I had walked back into that house and found my suitcases by the door, there was no contempt in his face.
There was fear.
Raw, immediate fear.
“Vanessa.”
I had heard him say my name thousands of times.
Sleepily.
Impatiently.
Tenderly, once.
Angrily.
Across grocery-store aisles.
Through bathroom doors.
From hospital hallways.
I had never heard him say it like that.
“Tell them,” he said.
I stared at him.
“Tell them what?”
“That I didn’t throw you out.”
Melissa closed her eyes again.
Samuel reached for a pen.
Curtis leaned toward me.
“You left.”
I almost thought I had misheard.
“What?”
“You left voluntarily.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“You called security.”
“I had security present for safety.”
“You packed my belongings.”
“Marina packed some things.”
“Because you told her to.”
“You were emotional.”
I felt something strange rise inside me.
Not fury.
Not even satisfaction.
It was almost disbelief at the speed with which he had begun rebuilding reality.
Curtis reached across the table.
“Vanessa, listen to me.”
I pulled my hand away before he touched it.
His voice dropped.
“We were grieving.”
“No.”
“We had a fight.”
“No.”
“Couples say things.”
“You gave me a ten-thousand-dollar check as payment for taking care of your father.”
His eyes flicked toward Samuel.
“That was support.”
“You called it payment for my services.”
“I was upset.”
“You told me the house smelled old and so did I.”
Melissa stared at him.
Curtis looked briefly embarrassed.
Then desperation swallowed it.
“You can’t prove any of that.”
The words came out before he understood what he had said.
Samuel’s gaze sharpened.
I looked at Curtis.
“So that’s where we are.”
He pressed his lips together.
Melissa touched her forehead.
“Curtis, stop talking.”
But Samuel was already reaching for another folder.
“Actually,” he said, “we have substantial documentation regarding what occurred after Arthur’s death.”
Curtis’s head snapped toward him.
“What documentation?”
Samuel turned to me.
“Vanessa, did Curtis remove your access to the joint savings account?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The day he made me leave, I think.”
“Did you authorize that?”
“No.”
Samuel nodded.
“Did he provide access to another marital account containing comparable funds?”
“No.”
Curtis cut in.
“She had money.”
I looked at him.
“I had two hundred and fourteen dollars.”
“You had credit cards.”
“You canceled one.”
“I froze it because I was worried about spending.”
“You were worried I might buy a hotel room?”
Melissa raised a hand.
“Enough.”
For once, Curtis obeyed.
Samuel slid copies of banking records across the table.
“The account restriction is independently verifiable.”
Curtis looked at Melissa.
She did not look back.
Samuel produced another sheet.
“The divorce petition was prepared four days before Arthur Bennett’s death.”
My chest tightened.
I knew it.
Some part of me had known.
Seeing the date still felt like being shoved backward.
Curtis stared at the page.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Melissa looked at him sharply.
“You told me the separation decision happened after the funeral.”
He did not answer.
She leaned closer.
“You told me that.”
“I was considering options.”
“You instructed our office to draft the petition.”
“I hadn’t filed it.”
“Because your father was still alive.”
Curtis stood.
“Everybody stop.”
No one did.
May you like
Samuel turned another page.
“There is also the matter of the security contractor.”
