Chapter 8
But the provision did not release funds to Benjamin.
Nor did it grant him control over the property.”
I felt a strange mixture of grief and relief.
Thomas had anticipated the possibility that I might need help someday.
He had protected my ability to choose.
He had not designed my future around my son’s convenience.
“How much money are we talking about?”
I asked.
Richard answered without hesitation.
“The trust currently holds approximately $2.4 million in investments, along with the interest in your residence.
Its value fluctuates with the market.”
Benjamin closed his eyes.
Genevieve went completely still.
I looked from one to the other.
“Is that why you came here?”
“No,” Benjamin said quickly.
“Then why?”
He swallowed.
“Because you canceled the payments.”
“That explains why you came to complain.
It doesn’t explain why you brought my husband’s attorney.”
Richard answered for him.
“Benjamin contacted me yesterday evening.
He said there was an urgent family dispute and asked me to intervene before you made changes to your estate.”
I stared at my son.
“Yesterday evening?”
“Mom, I was worried.”
“You were worried about what I might do with my money.”
“I was worried about the family!”
“Then why did you tell me I wasn’t invited to dinner?”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Genevieve was upset.
She didn’t want another argument.”
Genevieve’s expression hardened.
“Don’t put this all on me.”
“You told me to send the message!”
“Because you wouldn’t tell your mother that we needed boundaries!”
I watched them turn on each other, their voices growing sharper with every sentence.
For fifteen years, I had paid bills to protect them from the consequences of their decisions.
Now, with the money interrupted, their carefully polished marriage seemed to be coming apart in front of me.
Richard waited until they stopped arguing.
“There is another document,” he said.
He removed a smaller envelope from the folder.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
My name was written across the front in Thomas’s handwriting.
Eleanor.
No title.
No date.
Just my name.
I reached for it, but Richard held it gently for a moment.
“Thomas asked me to give you this only if Benjamin attempted to pressure you into surrendering control of your finances or property.”
My fingers trembled.
“Why didn’t you give it to me when Thomas died?”
“Because your son never crossed that particular line in a way that triggered the instructions.