“Once.”
“When?”
“A year ago.”
Martin had asked what happened to Cedarline if I died.
Reasonable question at sixty-eight.
I told him my estate documents handled it.
Cedarline would pass into a trust, but professional managers would oversee liquidation or continued operation.
Trevor did not automatically inherit operational control.
Martin had seemed surprised.
“You don’t trust your own son?”
he’d asked.
I remembered my answer.
“I love my son. That’s different from making him qualified.”
At the time, I thought Martin respected that.
Now Daniel handed me another page.
An email printed from a lender production file.
Sender:
Kristen Sutter
Recipient:
Martin Vale
Subject:
Gloria succession
The body said:
Trevor is tired of waiting for her to understand what belongs to the family anyway.
We need the properties moved before she changes the trust.
I felt something harden inside me.
Not grief.
Not yet.
Recognition.
Trevor had not merely believed the River Oaks house was his.
