Vanessa gave a nervous laugh.
“That’s not funny.”
Grandma looked directly at her.
“I never joke about business.”
My father straightened.
“Mother, perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
“Oh, I think everyone should hear it.”
Grandma reached for a leather folder beside her chair.
“I made this decision long before tonight. Your behavior simply confirmed that I made the right one.”
My father leaned forward.
Grandma removed a thick cream-colored envelope.
“The legal trust documents,” she explained.
Then she placed it in front of me.
“Until Lily turns twenty-five, Daniel will manage the trust on her behalf, with the assistance of my appointed financial and legal advisers.”
I stared at her.
“Me?”
Grandma nodded.
“You’re the only person here who never asked me for any of it.”
Vanessa’s face went pale.
My father looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath him.
Then Lily returned to my side.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “did I do something wrong?”
I knelt in front of her and held both her hands.
“No, sweetheart.”
I looked up at my family.
“You did everything right.”
For the first time in my life, my father looked at me with something other than disappointment.
He looked worried.
But I was about to discover that his concern had very little to do with Grandma’s inheritance.
Vanessa placed her champagne glass firmly onto the table.
“You can’t seriously let HIM control hundreds of millions of dollars!”
Grandma closed the folder.
“Why not?”
“He’s never managed anything bigger than his own bank account!”
I stood up.
“That is enough, Vanessa.”
She turned toward me.
“Oh, please. You bring your daughter here in a department-store dress, and suddenly you’re entitled to everything Grandma worked for?”
Grandma’s expression hardened.
“Daniel didn’t ask for anything. You’re the one demanding my money.”
My father rose from his chair.
“Mother, I’ve spent thirty years preparing to take over your company.”
“Have you?”
His jaw tightened.
“You know I have.”
Grandma studied him for several seconds.
Then she reached into the folder again.
