Chapter 5 - Kyle’s Name in the Garden

Kyle’s name changed the sunlight.

Paige had not realized how much she hated hearing it until Tabitha said it with such careless confidence.

Kyle helped us prove your father was no longer thinking clearly.

Us.

Calvin.

Tabitha.

Kyle.

A triangle of polished greed standing over an old man’s final months.

Paige remembered Kyle’s smooth voice after her father’s funeral.

You should rest, Paige.

Let the paperwork breathe.

Calvin can help manage the transition.

Your father was sentimental at the end.

Sentimental.

That was what men like Kyle called love when it interrupted profit.

Now Paige stood beside the roses, recording still active, and watched Tabitha realize she had named the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tabitha lifted her chin.

“You can’t use that recording.”

Paige’s expression did not change.

“Why not?”

“Because I was upset.”

“You were specific.”

“I was angry.”

“You were proud.”

Tabitha’s lips parted.

No reply came.

Penelope’s voice entered again.

“Paige, keep her talking if you can, but do not provoke physical contact.”

Tabitha stared at the phone.

“What is this? A setup?”

Paige looked at the rose branch Tabitha had grabbed earlier. Tiny red marks showed on Tabitha’s fingers where the thorns had bitten her.

“No. You walked into my father’s garden and confessed because you thought grief made me harmless.”

Tabitha’s eyes flashed.

“You are harmless.”

The sentence trembled as it came out.

Even she did not believe it now.

Paige slipped the envelope into the front of her apron, keeping it visible but secure.

Tabitha’s eyes followed it.

Penelope asked, “Is Calvin present?”

“No,” Paige said.

Tabitha snapped, “Don’t talk about my husband like he answers to you.”

Paige looked at her.

“He was my husband when he learned where my father kept his files.”

The words landed.

Tabitha’s face drained again.

There were truths inside the sentence, but not all of them would be revealed.

Not yet.

The envelope stayed sealed.

The will stayed hidden.

The trap stayed unnamed.

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