Chapter 14: Friday at Ten

Nina's POV

The trust met in the Rainer dining room, at the same long table where I had been thanked for being peaceful.

There were no white roses this time.

There was a pitcher of water, a laptop, and six chairs.

The family lawyer sat at the head with a folder.

Margot sat at his right in navy silk, with her pearls on and her hands folded.

Across from her sat Elliot's aunt, his late father's sister, with her cane hooked on the chair back.

She was the one who had asked about our separate wings.

She looked at me and looked away.

Elliot pulled out a chair for me, and I took the one beside it instead.

He nodded and sat down without a word.

"Thank you for coming on short notice," Margot said. "I'm sorry for the scene at the gala. I will be brief."

"Mrs. Rainer has asked me to play a recording," the lawyer said. "For the trustees."

He pressed a key.

My own voice filled the room.

"Yes. I understand. It will be paid, all of it."

A click, and then my voice again.

"I know what this is for."

Nobody spoke.

Elliot had played me the clip on Sunday, and it still turned my stomach.

"Well," the aunt said. "That's rather plain."

"I wish it weren't," Margot said, and she touched her pearls.

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