Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen
I didn't flinch.
I didn't raise my voice.
I simply reached into my bag and set my own folder on the table.
"Before anyone asks me to sign anything," I said, "I'd like you all to look at page seven."
The lead attorney frowned and opened his copy.
His expression didn't change at first.
Then it did.
My mother leaned forward.
"What is that?"
"A second will," I said.
"Executed four months before the first one.
Dad had concerns.
Apparently, he shared them with someone other than his estate attorney."
Julian's face went pale.
"That's not possible."
"And yet here we are."
Richard set down his glass.
For the first time all evening, he said nothing.
The room shifted.
Two of the five lawyers exchanged a look I recognized immediately — the look of men who had just realized they were standing on the wrong side of something.
My mother's voice dropped low.
"Where did you get that?"
"Dad sent it to me himself.
Eighteen weeks ago.
With a letter."
She stood up slowly.
"Sienna—"
"He knew, Mother." I kept my voice calm.
"He knew exactly what was being planned.
And he made sure I would be ready."
Julian took a step toward me.
"You're bluffing."
I looked at him the way I look at people who underestimate me for the last time.
"Sit down, Julian."
May you like
Then my phone buzzed on the table.
I turned it over and saw the name on the screen — and for the first time that night, even I went still.
