Chapter 11 - What Their Mother KnewThe folder contained audio transcripts.
Not recordings.
Typed summaries.
Meetings Trevor had apparently documented for himself.
One was dated four days before Cecilia entered hospice.
C.W. confronted me regarding Silver Birch. Believes ownership traces to Dad. No proof yet. Says she will remove me from finance once review complete.
Elise stared.
“He knew.”
Grace nodded.
Another entry:
E. unaware. C.W. does not want daughters involved until evidence confirmed.
Naomi whispered, “Mom was protecting us.”
Elise felt a painful pressure behind her eyes.
The next note was worse.
C.W. says voting control will remain with E. because N. lacks discipline and could be manipulated by spouse/outsider.
Naomi stopped breathing.
Elise looked at her.
Naomi read it again.
“She wrote that?”
Grace said carefully, “Trevor wrote that Cecilia said it.”
“But he might have been accurate,” Naomi whispered.
No one answered.
Naomi sat.
For years, she had interpreted the trust as rejection.
Now it looked like something else.
Protection.
Cecilia had understood Naomi’s impulsiveness.
Perhaps too well.
Naomi began crying.
“She knew exactly what would happen.”
Elise shook her head.
“No.”
Naomi looked up.
“She did.”
“She knew you were young. That’s different.”
“I gave Trevor everything he needed.”
“He manipulated you.”
“And I helped because I wanted to hurt you.”
Elise had no answer for that.
The next transcript involved a potential sale.
Cecilia allegedly told Trevor:
Ward & Finch is not a liquidation target. You keep talking about value as though people and history are interchangeable with price.
Trevor’s note afterward:
She is sentimental. E will be worse.
Elise read that sentence silently.
Her husband had decided who she was before they ever kissed.
Predictable.
Sentimental.
Useful.
The final file contained a scan of a handwritten note.
Cecilia’s handwriting.
Grace verified it instantly.
Grace—if my health turns quickly, preserve procurement materials. Do not accuse Trevor without evidence. Protect Elise from making decisions out of grief. Protect Naomi from anyone who makes resentment feel like love.
Naomi covered her face.
Elise could no longer hold herself together.
She stood and walked from the room.
Sunny found her on the back terrace.
Elise sat on the stone steps.
She remembered Cecilia brushing Naomi’s hair when they were children.
Naomi screaming that Elise always got to sit in front.
Elise remembered rolling her eyes.
Their mother had known them both.
Their strengths.
Their vulnerabilities.
Cecilia had seen danger approaching.
Death simply arrived first.
A few minutes later, Naomi sat several feet away.
Neither spoke.
Finally Naomi whispered, “She warned me without ever warning me.”
Elise looked at her.
“She was trying not to make you feel less capable.”
“She failed.”
“She was dying.”
Naomi nodded.
“I spent two years believing you had convinced her to control my money.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“You never asked.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Naomi stared at the lawn.
“When Trevor first kissed me, I thought I was taking something from you.”
Elise’s jaw tightened.
Naomi forced herself to continue.
“I thought for once I was the one someone chose.”
“That’s cruel.”
“I know.”
“You were my sister.”
“I know.”
“I would have given you anything.”
Naomi cried harder.
“That was part of why I hated you.”
Elise stared.
Naomi looked ashamed.
“You could always help me. Pay for something. Fix something. Introduce me to someone. You never needed me.”
“That isn’t true.”
“It felt true.”
Elise breathed slowly.
“None of that excuses what you did.”
“I know.”
“I may never trust you again.”
Naomi nodded.
“I know.”
“But Trevor doesn’t get to use your shame as evidence that he owns you.”
Naomi looked at her sister.
For the first time since the wardrobe opened, something changed between them.
Not forgiveness.
Alignment.
Grace stepped onto the terrace.
“Investigators want to interview both of you tomorrow.”
Naomi’s face tightened.
“I’ll go.”
Grace looked at Elise.
“And Trevor just filed for divorce.”
Elise blinked.
Grace continued.
“He’s asking for temporary access to marital funds and claiming the mansion appreciated during the marriage due to joint contributions.”
Elise almost laughed.
“He’s trying to take the house too?”
“He can claim anything.”
Elise looked back through the windows.
Toward the bedroom.
Toward the wardrobe.
Trevor had already tried to take her marriage, her sister and her company.
Now he wanted the house where he had hidden both his affair and his evidence.
Elise stood.
May you like
“Then he can explain every dollar he supposedly contributed.”
Because this time, she intended to look at everything.
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