Chapter 2 - The Signature They Needed)
Claire did not drink.
She lifted the glass when everyone else did, touched it to her lips, and placed it back down.
Margaret watched every movement.
"So, Rachel," Daniel said, "tell Claire why you're here."
Rachel's face tightened.
Margaret answered for her.
"Later."
"No," Claire said. "I'd like to hear it now."
Silence moved around the table.
Rachel looked at Margaret.
That single glance told Claire everything she needed to know.
Rachel was afraid of her.
Claire placed both hands in her lap.
"Rachel?"
"I've been reviewing some estate documents."
"Whose estate?"
"Yours."
Daniel exhaled loudly.
"Claire, please."
She looked across at him.
"Why is a woman I haven't seen in six years reviewing my estate?"
Margaret folded her napkin.
"Because the foundation requires restructuring."
"My foundation?"
"The family foundation."
"No. My mother created it before I married Daniel."
Margaret's smile disappeared.
"We are not going to argue over technical language."
"It's not technical language. It's ownership."
Daniel leaned forward.
"This is why we're worried."
Claire stared at him.
"Worried about what?"
"About you."
There were eleven other people at the table.
No one spoke.
Daniel continued.
"You've been forgetting meetings."
"Which meetings?"
"Appointments."
"Which appointments?"
"You've been paranoid."
"About what?"
Daniel hesitated.
Claire saw it.
The weakness in the performance.
"That's what I thought."
Margaret reached down and lifted the leather folder onto the table.
"We wanted to avoid discussing this publicly."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have invited twelve witnesses."
A cousin coughed into his napkin.
Margaret's cheeks darkened.
She opened the folder.
"Your husband is concerned about your judgment."
Claire looked at the document.
Temporary Medical Guardianship.
Below it was her legal name.
Claire Evelyn Morgan.
Her hands went cold.
"What's this?"
"A precaution."
"Against what?"
Daniel spoke softly.
"Against you hurting yourself financially."
Claire almost laughed.
"You changed my banking password."
"For security."
"You cancelled my meeting with my attorney."
"You weren't thinking clearly."
"You told the foundation board I was sick."
"We said you were exhausted."
Margaret pushed the folder toward Claire.
"Sign the first page and we can discuss the rest tomorrow."
Rachel suddenly dropped her spoon.
It hit the floor.
Everyone looked at her.
"Sorry."
She bent down.
Claire felt something press against her ankle.
Rachel's phone.
Its screen faced Claire.
A message was already open.
Your mother's trust owns 61 percent of Morgan Development Group.
Claire's breath stopped.
She looked across at Daniel.
His face gave nothing away.
Rachel stood again.
Margaret's voice sharpened.
"Is there a problem?"
"No."
Claire leaned back.
"Actually, there is."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Claire tapped the folder.
"Why does this say I voluntarily authorize Daniel to act on behalf of the Claire Vale Family Trust?"
Margaret answered.
"Because he already manages most of those matters."
"No, he doesn't."
"He practically does."
"Practically isn't legally."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"You're making everyone uncomfortable."
"Good."
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But Claire knew him well enough to see it.
"Sign the document."
"No."
"Claire."
"No."
Margaret poured wine into her own glass.
"Your behavior tonight is proving exactly why we prepared it."
Claire looked around the table.
Suddenly the entire dinner made sense.
The relatives.
The formal setting.
Rachel.
The documents.
They wanted witnesses.
They wanted people who could later say Claire had been unstable.
Difficult.
Suspicious.
Aggressive.
Claire looked at Rachel.
"Why did you stop speaking to me?"
Rachel froze.
Margaret's hand tightened around her glass.
"This isn't the time."
Claire ignored her.
"Rachel?"
Tears appeared in Rachel's eyes.
"Because Daniel told me you never wanted to see me again."
Claire turned slowly toward her husband.
Daniel did not move.
Rachel continued.
"He said you thought I was jealous of your marriage."
"I never said that."
"I know."
"How?"
Rachel swallowed.
"Because three months ago I found the email."
"What email?"
"The one you actually sent me."
Daniel stood.
"That's enough."
Rachel flinched.
Claire stood too.
"What email?"
Rachel's voice shook.
"The email asking me for help."
Claire stared at her.
"I never sent you an email asking for help."
Rachel's eyes filled with fear.
"Yes, Claire. You did."
"When?"
"Four days after your mother died."
Claire felt the room tilt.
Her mother had died seven years earlier.
Four days after the funeral, Claire had been barely capable of getting out of bed.
She remembered writing emails late at night.
She remembered asking someone to help her understand the trust.
But Daniel had told her she never sent them.
He said grief had confused her memory.
Claire whispered.
"What did it say?"
Rachel looked at Daniel.
Then at Margaret.
Finally, back at Claire.
"It said you were afraid Daniel was trying to take control of everything your mother left you."
Daniel knocked his chair backward.
May you like
"Rachel, shut your mouth."
And every face at the table turned toward him.
