Mr. Voss’s account. During the dispute over the jewelry boutique deposit, security reviewed hallway footage and preserved relevant material. Mr. Voss was also required to settle his cabin charges before disembarking. The bracelet was discovered when staff inspected disputed boutique packaging in his luggage.’
Landon’s face went flat.
‘That is not how it happened.’
‘Then explain,’ I said.
He looked at me, then at Felix.
Felix noticed.
‘Don’t,’ Felix said.
Landon’s mouth tightened.
‘You were in my cabin.’
Felix actually stepped backward.
‘I was drunk half the trip because you told me everything was handled.’
Marisol snapped, ‘Felix, be quiet.’
But the command no longer worked. Not fully.
Celeste removed her sunglasses. Her mascara had smudged beneath one eye. She looked younger without the armor of performance.
‘You told us the company account was yours,’ she said to Landon. ‘You said Nora gave you access after the wedding.’
Landon’s head turned slowly.
‘Celeste.’
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘You told Mom Greystone was already being transferred.’
Marisol’s lips pressed together.
There it was.
The sentence beneath three years of behavior. Not a misunderstanding. A promise Landon had made them. He had sold them my life in advance and expected me to sign the receipt eventually.
I looked at him and felt grief, clean and sharp, but not surprise.
‘You told them the estate would be yours,’ I said.
He stared at me for a long moment. Then the charm fell away.
‘It should have been ours,’ he said. ‘Do you know what it’s like to be married to someone whose father keeps everything in glass cases and legal folders? I was your husband, Nora. I shouldn’t have had to ask for scraps.’
‘Scraps?’ My voice nearly broke, but I held it. ‘You lived here for free. Your family lived here for free. I paid your debts twice.’
‘You paid what made us look bad,’ he said. ‘There is a difference.’
My father took one slow step forward.
‘You were ashamed of needing her,’ he said. ‘So you punished her for helping you.’
Landon’s eyes flashed.
‘Stay out of this, Daniel.’
Sheriff Coleman shifted his weight.
The warning was small, but Landon saw it.
Anika handed another document to him. ‘The temporary order allows supervised retrieval of personal belongings tonight. You and your relatives will not remain on the property. Further contact with Mrs. Hart-Voss should go through counsel.’
Marisol clutched her pearls.
‘You are throwing us out in the rain?’
For the first time all evening, my father smiled. It was not kind.
‘You threw my daughter out of peace every day she lived under this roof with you. Rain is not cruelty.’
No one answered.
They were given thirty minutes.
The next half hour felt less like a scene from my life than the clearing of a stage after a bad play. Felix packed clothes from the guest suite he had claimed as a bachelor wing. Celeste cried quietly while removing cosmetics from my dressing table, half of them mine. Marisol stood in the blue parlor giving instructions no one followed. Landon went upstairs with Sheriff Coleman and one of Anika’s associates.
I stayed in the foyer with my father.
The chandelier above us glowed against the storm-dark windows. My grandmother’s portrait watched from the landing, one hand resting on the
