Chapter 4 - WHO PAID FOR THE PARTY
Daniel Morris, Thomas’s attorney, entered the garden through the side gate carrying a black leather folder.
He did not look surprised.
That told Helen everything.
“You planned this,” she whispered.
Thomas looked at her. “No. I planned to attend my father’s retirement celebration. You planned to humiliate my children.”
Daniel stopped beside Thomas and opened the folder.
Robert wiped frosting from his sleeve, trying desperately to recover the authority that had always worked on weaker people.
“Whatever papers you have, they mean nothing,” Robert said. “This house has been in my name for thirty years.”
Daniel adjusted his glasses.
“Actually,” he said, “it has not.”
A murmur moved through the guests.
Helen’s hand tightened around her pearls.
Robert’s eyes flicked to Daniel, then Thomas.
Thomas spoke calmly.
“Six years ago, when your investments collapsed, you came to me.”
Robert’s face darkened. “This is not the place.”
“This is exactly the place,” Thomas said. “You asked me to save the estate. You said the family name couldn’t survive foreclosure.”
Elaine whispered, “Foreclosure?”
Thomas did not stop.
“I paid off the mortgage. I paid your debts. I covered the taxes, the staff, the landscaping, the catering, the charity dinners, the country club dues, and today’s party.”
The garden went so quiet the fountain seemed loud.
Thomas looked at the cake smashed beneath Robert’s shoes.
“Even that cake.”
Helen whispered, “Thomas.”
“No,” he said. “You don’t get to say my name softly now.”
Daniel handed him a document.
Thomas held it up.
“The deed was transferred into a trust after I paid the final lien. A trust established for Rebecca, Samuel, and Jacob.”
Robert’s mouth opened.
Helen stepped back.
“The estate belongs to my children,” Thomas said.
No one breathed.
Thomas turned toward his parents.
“You made the owners of this house serve your guests.”
Madison covered her mouth.
Samuel looked up at Thomas, confused. “This is ours?”
Thomas crouched beside him.
“One day,” he said. “But not like this. Never like this.”
Robert lunged forward, but two security guards moved instantly.
“You stole my house!” Robert roared.
Thomas stood.
“I saved it,” he said. “And you used it to punish three grieving children because their mother wasn’t rich enough for you.”
Helen’s polished mask cracked.
“You don’t understand what she did to this family.”
Thomas’s voice dropped.
“Say one more word about Claire.”
For a moment, Helen looked like she might.
Then Rebecca spoke.
“She said worse things inside.”
Thomas turned to his daughter.
Rebecca’s eyes were wet, but her chin lifted.
“There’s a room,” she said. “Grandma calls it the lesson room.”
Helen went white.
May you like
Robert stopped yelling.
And Thomas knew the cake was only the beginning.
