“The injury above your eyebrow.”
I swallowed.
That one was harder.
Not because it hurt more.
Because Robert’s office had been untouched since his death.
His reading glasses still sat beside the lamp.
One unfinished crossword puzzle remained folded in the top drawer.
Daniel knew that room was sacred to me.
He went in anyway.
I played the final clip.
Daniel was opening drawers.
Vanessa stood beside him carrying folders.
I entered.
“What are you doing?”
Daniel didn’t turn.
“Finding the insurance papers.”
“Those are not insurance papers.”
He pulled out a red file.
My heart had nearly stopped when I saw it.
Robert’s estate planning documents.
A private letter.
Trust amendments.
A list of accounts.
I reached for the folder.
Daniel pulled it away.
Vanessa stepped between us.
I moved around her.
Then Daniel used his forearm to push me back.
My heel caught the edge of the rug.
My forehead hit the corner of the bookcase.
I fell.
Vanessa screamed.
Not because I was hurt.
Because there was blood.
Daniel stared down at me.
And then he said the words that would destroy everything.
“Take a picture before she cleans it up.”
The courtroom seemed to freeze.
On the video, Vanessa pulled out her phone.
She photographed me.
Bleeding.
Still on the floor.
Daniel crouched beside
me.
For one foolish second, I thought he was going to help me.
Instead he whispered, “You really need help, Mom.”
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“Make a note that she fell again.”
Judge Mercer stopped the video himself.
Curtis Hale slowly removed his glasses.
Daniel looked sick.
Vanessa was crying now.
Actual tears.
But they were for herself.
Not for me.
Judge Mercer called for a ten-minute recess.
