I was under anesthesia when it wore off too early. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I heard my son’s wife tell the surgeon: “If something goes wrong, don’t call her lawyer. Call me first.”

My voice cut across the room sharply.

“Not unconscious enough.”

The recording began playing.

Vanessa’s voice filled the room.

“If something goes wrong, don’t call her lawyer. Call me first.”

Daniel flinched visibly.

Then came the rest.

The money.

The properties.

The plan to disappear.

The silence afterward was suffocating.