“Pending verification.”
I almost laughed. “Verification. I have my mother’s necklace, a pile of creepy photos, and an ex-husband who apparently came with a conspiracy. What else do you need?”
“A blood test. Your mother’s letters. The pendant. And your grandfather’s recognition.”
“My grandfather had a stroke.”
“He cannot speak,” Helena said. “But he can write. Sometimes.”
Edmund stood near the fireplace, his silver hair catching the low light.
“He has waited a long time to see you.”
I looked at him.
“And after he sees me, what happens?”
Helena folded her hands.
“If confirmed, you become primary beneficiary of the Ashborne Trust. That includes real estate holdings, offshore shipping investments, art collections, mineral rights, and voting authority over Quillan Maritime.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
She hesitated.
“Conservatively? Nine hundred million dollars.”
The number did not feel real. It did not even feel like money. It felt like a sound from another language.
My mind went to my overdue rent. My cracked phone. The diner uniform hanging in my room. The way Dylan had watched me count coins and said, “Maybe budgeting just isn’t your strength.”
Nine hundred million dollars.
And he had tried to take it before I even knew it existed.
Helena continued, “Your ex-husband’s emergency amendment has already been challenged. Given the timing and his concealed knowledge, he has little chance of succeeding.”
“Little chance isn’t no chance.”
“No,” Helena said. “It is not.”
At midnight, Mrs. Vale took me to see Theodore Quillan.
He lived in the west wing, behind double doors guarded by cameras and a private nurse. The room inside was warm, lined with books and shaded lamps. Rain tapped against the windows.
Theodore sat in a wheelchair near the fire.
He was very old. His skin looked thin as parchment, his white hair combed neatly back. But when he turned his head and saw me, his eyes sharpened with startling force.
Edmund approached him first.
“Sir,” he said gently. “She is here.”
The old man’s gaze fixed on my face.
His hand trembled against the armrest.