My mother left me hungry and lonely at 16. When my…

Her knuckles were white. She wasn’t holding my hand because she loved me. She was holding on to me like a human shield.

She was terrified. I slowly, deliberately pulled my hand away. I placed it back on the table, separate from hers.

“Let him read it,” I said. My voice was steady. Grant looked like he wanted to intervene, to shout, to throw the table over, but the red light on the recorder kept him frozen in his seat.

He knew that any aggression now would only complicate their claim to the $40 million. Marvin broke the wax seal. The sound was sharp, like a bone snapping.

He unfolded the document inside. It was a single page, dense with text. Paula’s face began to lose color before Marvin even finished scanning the first paragraph.