Vita walked into the dining room. She wore her simple pink maternity dress, flat leather sandals, and no makeup. Her dark hair was neatly pinned into a graceful bun at the nape of her neck. In her hands, she carried two items: the sealed cream envelope and the thick green buckram binder.
Cora’s face instantly darkened from polite matriarchal charm to vicious rage. She slammed her silverware onto her porcelain plate with a deafening clatter. “Vita! What did I tell you about disturbing our guests?” Cora snapped, rising halfway from her chair.
“Return to your quarters this instant before I have security escort you from the premises!” Uncle Rob and Aunt Beth exchanged bewildered, uncomfortable glances. “Cora, what on earth is going on?” Rob asked, his brow furrowing deeply. “She is trespassing on family privacy,” Cleo piped up nastily.
She took a forkful of waffles. “She thinks because she’s pregnant she can dictate the rules of my brother’s house.” Vita didn’t back down. She walked with regal grace to the empty chair at the opposite end of the table—the seat traditionally reserved for the lady of the house.
She placed the green binder flat against the mahogany surface. “I am not trespassing, Cleo,” Vita said in a clear, resonant voice that silenced every fork in the room. “And I am not leaving.” “Get out of my sight!” Cora shrieked, her voice losing every shred of refined composure.
“You own nothing here! Marc bought this mansion with his money, and until he ratifies our new family trust deed, you have no legal right to stand on these hardwood floors!” “Actually, Mother,” a deep, thunderous baritone echoed from the entryway, “she has every legal right in the world.”
Every single head at the table whipped toward the archway as if struck by lightning. Cora froze, her mouth agape in terror. Cleo choked on her mimosa, coughing violently into her linen napkin. Uncle Rob and Aunt Beth stood up in shock.
I stepped fully into the morning sunlight. Behind me walked Toto Valli, accompanied by two uniformed officers from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department and our lead forensic auditor holding a briefcase full of certified documents. “Marc!” Cora gasped, her hands trembling violently.
