“Formal notice,” he said. “Mr. Bennett has revoked every financial and medical authorization previously granted to you. Ravenswood Estate has also been transferred into a protected family trust.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
Her voice changed.
The sweetness disappeared.
“You promised this house would be mine.”
The room went silent.
I had never promised that.
Perhaps she realized too late what she had admitted.
Sophie closed her eyes.
Ethan simply watched.
Vanessa looked around and seemed to remember the audience.
“I mean someday. As your wife.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
She came closer.
“Walter, your children are manipulating you.”
I almost smiled.
“That argument would have worked better before you tried to have me declared incapable.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“You were declining.”
“My independent physician disagrees.”
“You found someone who told you what you wanted.”
“The doctor you chose had already drafted his conclusion before Monday’s evaluation.”
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I said, “That was careless.”
Then Vanessa did something I did not expect.
She stopped pretending.
“You think Sophie and Ethan care about you?”
Sophie went rigid.
Vanessa pointed toward them.
“They disappeared the second you married me.”
“No,” I said. “I pushed them away because they questioned you.”
“They want your money.”
Ethan finally spoke.
“If that were true, we would have encouraged Dad to stay married to you. You were doing an excellent job making our inheritance larger by shortening his expenses.”
“Ethan,” Sophie hissed.
“What? Too soon?”
Under different circumstances, I might have laughed.
Vanessa stared at all three of us.
Then at Lily, who had been standing quietly near the ballroom entrance.
Her face changed.
“You.”
Lily did not move.
Vanessa understood.
“You went through my things.”
“No,” Lily said. “I heard you talking.”
“You little—”
“Enough,” I said.
Vanessa turned back to me.
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