Not like a slap. Not like anger. More like something heavy finally settling into place after being carried too long.
Evan sat back in the chair, confusion breaking across his face first, then disbelief. “That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “She wouldn’t just—she wouldn’t shut me out.”
“She didn’t shut you out,” I said quietly. “She made a decision.”
Leah swallowed. “A decision to give everything to you?”
I opened the envelope and slid the documents out. The paper was crisp, official, final. I turned them so they faced him.
“She gave the lake house to me,” I said. “And the savings.”
Evan didn’t reach for the papers. He just stared at them, like touching them would make it real.
“She was confused at the end,” he said quickly. “You know that. People get influenced. You were here all the time—”
“I was here because she needed someone,” I cut in, my voice steady. “Not because I was waiting for anything.”
“That’s not what this looks like,” he snapped.
