Ethan stared.
Daniel’s mouth opened.
Even Lily became quiet.
Then Noah sneezed.
Hannah slowly looked at Ethan.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
The lawyer nervously continued.
“There is one additional complication.”
“Of course there is.”
“The trust names the beneficiaries as Samuel Mercer’s grandchildren.”
Hannah looked toward Daniel, Lily, and Noah.
“All three?”
“Yes.”
“Equal shares?”
“Yes.”
Hannah sat down on a snow-covered bench.
Her children—born into grief, secrecy, violence, and impossible circumstances—had just inherited a fortune larger than the one powerful people had once committed crimes to protect.
Ethan started laughing.
Hannah stared at him.
“What is funny?”
“My mother spent five years trying to keep you away from the Caldwell fortune.”
Hannah slowly understood.
Then she began laughing too.
Because Evelyn Caldwell’s conspiracy had achieved the exact opposite of everything she intended.
She had tried to prevent Hannah’s child from inheriting power.
