Chapter 7: Nine O'Clock
I called Grace at 6 a.m.
"I saw the message," she said.
She had already been awake.
"I filed an emergency application with the probate court last night after you sent the will.
We're requesting a temporary injunction on any trust-related transactions pending a review of the amendment's validity."
"Will it hold?"
"If the judge agrees to hear it this morning, yes.
But Claire — we need Emily to make a statement.
Even a brief one.
Her own words, on record, that she did not knowingly consent to the amendment and that she is being pressured to sign the proxy transfer."
"She's in that house."
"I know.
Is there any way to reach her before nine?"
I thought about it.
"Daniel will be there.
He'll want to witness the signing."
"Almost certainly."
"Which means he'll drive out from the city.
He lives twenty minutes from the estate." I looked at the clock.
6:08.
"If I call him now and keep him on the phone long enough—"
"That buys Emily time but not a statement."
I stood up.
"I'll go to the house."
"Claire—"
"Victoria thinks I'm a corporate secretary who wants their name on my résumé.
Richard has never looked at me directly.
They don't know what I've spent the last two days doing." I picked up my bag.
"I'll tell them I came to apologize for last night.
That Daniel and I talked and I overreacted.
Victoria will love that."
A long pause.
"You'd be walking into that house alone."
"Maya knows where I'm going.
I'll have both phones on and recording before I knock on the door."
Another pause.
Then: "Get Emily's statement.
Anything she says out loud about the amendment or the proxy — that's what we need.
I'll have the injunction application ready to file the moment the court opens at eight-thirty."
I was in my car by 6:20.
The drive to the estate took thirty-four minutes.
I used twenty of them to call Daniel.
He answered on the second ring, surprised and then quickly warm — the warmth of someone who had expected to do damage control and was relieved to find it easier than expected.
"Claire.
I was going to call you this morning."
"I know.
I'm sorry about last night.
I think I let my work brain take over and I turned a family situation into a case file."
A pause.
Then, carefully: "I understand.
It's a stressful environment to walk into."
"Can we have breakfast?
I'd like to clear the air properly.
There's a place near your apartment — they open at seven."
He hesitated.
"I actually have something at my parents' this morning."
"It won't take long.
Thirty minutes.
I just don't want things to be strange between us."
Another hesitation.
The sound of him weighing it.
"All right.
Thirty minutes."
I kept him on the phone for forty-five.
By the time I pulled up to the Mercer estate, it was 7:52 a.m.
and Daniel was sitting in a café twenty minutes away, waiting for me.
Victoria answered the door in a silk robe, coffee in hand, her expression moving through surprise and then settling into something carefully pleasant.
"Claire.
This is unexpected."
"I know.
I'm sorry to come without calling.
I wanted to apologize to you in person — I think I was rude last night and I didn't want it to sit."
Victoria's expression warmed by a precise, controlled degree.
"Come in."
The house was quiet.
Richard's study door was closed.
I could hear movement in the kitchen.
"Is Emily up?" I asked, keeping my voice light.
"I'd love to say hello before I go."
Victoria's warmth cooled slightly.
"Emily is resting."
"Of course.
I won't keep her." I smiled.
"I just feel badly.
I think I made her uncomfortable yesterday and I'd like to—"
"Emily." Victoria's voice lifted toward the staircase.
Sharp underneath the pleasant surface.
A door opened upstairs.
Footsteps on the stairs.
Emily appeared in the hallway.
She was wearing the same long cardigan.
When she saw me, something moved across her face — not surprise.
Relief, and then immediately, fear of the relief.
"Claire," she said carefully.
"Hi, Emily." I kept my voice warm and easy.
"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.
I think I made things awkward at dinner."
Victoria was watching both of us.
Emily looked at me.
Then she said, very clearly, in a voice that was steadier than I had heard from her yet: "You don't need to apologize.
You were the only person at that table who treated me like a person."
The room went very still.
Victoria set her coffee cup down on the hall table.
"Emily," she said.
"I didn't sign the amendment," Emily said.
Her voice shook slightly but held.
"I want that on record.
I was told it was a routine trust review.
No one told me what it said.
No one offered me a lawyer.
I was twenty-five years old and I trusted them and I did not sign away my rights knowingly."
"That is enough," Victoria said.
"And I'm not signing the proxy transfer." Emily's chin came up.
"Not today.
Not ever."
May you like
Both my phones were recording.
Richard's study door opened.
