Chapter 7 - The Trustee’s Question
Helena asked only one question next.
Not about signatures.
Not about threats.
Not about Daniel.
Not about Celeste.
“Mara, are you willing to say out loud what you see?”
Mara looked down.
The forged page still trembled against Daniel’s chest where she had slammed it.
He had not removed it.
Perhaps he had forgotten.
Perhaps he could not bear to touch it while Helena listened.
Mara breathed in.
“I see documents with my name forged on them.”
Daniel exploded.
“You see what she wants you to see!”
Helena’s voice cut through him.
“Quiet.”
One word.
Daniel’s mouth snapped shut.
Celeste stared at him, horrified by how quickly he obeyed.
Mara saw it too.
Daniel was not afraid of many people.
He was afraid of Helena Voss.
Mara’s voice became steadier.
“I see signatures dated after my father died.”
Celeste whispered, “Stop.”
Mara ignored her.
“I see transfer forms Daniel tried to force me to sign.”
Daniel pointed at her, finger stabbing inches from her face.
“You wanted help. You begged me to handle the estate.”
Mara stared at him.
“I begged you to hold me while I buried my father.”
The room went silent.
Even Helena did not speak.
Mara’s grief entered the dining room fully then.
Not weak grief.
Clear grief.
The kind that remembered every betrayal by the temperature of the hand holding yours while it happened.
Daniel lowered his finger.
Celeste looked away.
Mara continued.
“And you used that.”
Helena’s voice softened.
“Mara, step away from the table if you can.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Helena did not answer him.
Mara moved three steps back.
The rain beat against the windows.
The chandelier hummed faintly.
The locked door stood behind Daniel.
Then the handle moved once from the other side.
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Everyone froze.
Read Chapter 8 👉 Because Helena told Mara to step away before the door handle moved, and Daniel realized she might not be as far away as he believed.
