‘Excuse me?’
‘You lied about the house.
You lied about my mother.
You made me ignore my sister’s calls because you said she was trying to steal from us.’
I looked at him.
‘She told you that?’
Shame crossed his face.
‘She said you had been taking money from Mom’s account.
She said the will reading would become a scene and that I should let her handle you.’
Yvonne scoffed.
‘And you believed me because it made sense.’
Stefan flinched.
She had meant to defend herself, but instead she exposed the weakest part of him.
He had believed her because the lie excused his absence.
Mr.
Alden gathered the will, the letter, and the copied deed.
‘The executor will secure the property until the estate process is complete.
Given what occurred yesterday, the daughter will receive immediate access.
Neither of you has authority to remove anything from the house.’
Yvonne looked at me.
For the first time since the funeral, there was no amusement in her expression.
Only fear.
‘You planned this,’ she said.
I met her gaze.
‘I slept on a couch because you threw me out of my mother’s house.
I did not even know what the will said.’
‘You turned her against us.’
‘No.
You put a deed in front of her and told her no one would question a shaky signature.’
Yvonne’s jaw trembled.
‘That house should belong to a family.’
‘It does,’ I said.
She picked up her handbag and walked out.
Stefan did not follow.
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
My brother lowered himself into the chair she had left empty.
For a while, he said nothing.
Then he looked at me.
‘I’m sorry.’
I wanted those words to repair something.
They did not.
‘You didn’t answer my call.’
‘I know.’
‘She told me you agreed to throw me out.’
‘I didn’t know she was doing that.’
‘But you made it easy for her to claim you did.’
He nodded.
‘I know.’
‘I needed my brother.’
His eyes filled then.
‘I know.’
That was all I could take from him that day: not forgiveness, not reconciliation, only an admission without excuses.
Mr.
Alden gave me the temporary access documents and a copy of Mom’s letter.
He kept the suspicious deed and the original recording.
When I returned to the house, the funeral flowers had begun to sag.
