I pointed toward the doors.
“Get out. All of you.”
Adrian looked at me closely, finally noticing the resemblance he had never considered. Then he turned away, with Celia and their attorneys following.
When the doors closed, Mr. Grant cautioned that they might keep challenging the arrangements. Nevertheless, he believed the documents protected the assets Walter had transferred to me.
I was suddenly wealthy. I was also grieving a father I had never known existed.
Part 4: What I Chose to Keep
From the window, I could see our table beneath the oak tree. The chessboard still sat where we had spent so many afternoons together.
I thought about the residents downstairs, eating poor meals and sleeping in crowded rooms. Until Walter brought me upstairs, I had lived among them, knowing how easily the world forgot people who had little money and nowhere else to go.
His fortune could not restore my childhood or excuse his deception. But I could decide what happened to it now.
