Everything happened terrifyingly quickly.
Six weeks after the diagnosis, I was standing at his funeral.
His children stood in front of me as if I had personally taken their father from them.
Rebecca barely looked at me.
I cried anyway.
Not for the house.
Not for the money.
But because the man who had made me feel safe for the first time in years was gone.
After the funeral, Richard’s lawyer asked me to come to his office.
When I arrived, Richard’s three children were already there.
Nobody greeted me.
On the lawyer’s desk was a small wooden box.
There was no visible will.
No thick pile of documents.
Just the box.
Rebecca leaned back in her chair with a slight smile.
Then the lawyer looked at me.
“Richard left very specific instructions.”
Nobody spoke.
He slowly pushed the wooden box across the desk toward me.
Then he said:
“Made sure you got exactly what you deserved.”
Rebecca giggled.
And as I reached for the lid, I suddenly wondered if Richard knew anything about me that I had never told him.
