Arthur stared straight ahead.
I did not smile.
I had spent too many months living with the consequences of this dispute to mistake a preliminary ruling for the end of the story.
But I knew something had changed.
The family that had treated me as a powerless outsider was now required to answer questions it had spent months avoiding.
And the court would decide the case based on evidence, not on Arthur’s opinion of my worth.
As we gathered our documents, Daniel approached my table.
“Alex.”
My attorney stepped away to speak with the clerk, leaving us a few feet of space.
Daniel looked at me as though he had been waiting for permission to breathe.
“I never thought it would get this far.”
I closed my folder.
“It got this far because you let it.”
He swallowed.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked down.
“I was trying to keep my father from losing everything.”
