Simon stood.
“I think everyone should take a moment.”
Henry shouted:
“SIT DOWN, SIMON.”
The solicitor stopped.
Silence.
Henry’s face was red.
“Sorry.”
Simon remained standing.
Henry lowered his voice.
“But don’t tell me to calm down while someone reads out that my father disinherited his own family.”
Elena spoke.
“He didn’t disinherit you.”
Henry spun around.
“Don’t.”
“He left all three of you shares.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“He created trusts for the grandchildren.”
Henry’s voice rose again.
“STOP TALKING LIKE YOU’RE HIS EXECUTOR!”
“I am telling you what the document says.”
“I KNOW WHAT IT SAYS!”
Peter stepped between them slightly.
“Henry.”
Henry pushed his hand away.
“No.”
He pointed at Elena.
“She worked for Dad for a few years. That’s it. A few years.”
Elena stared.
Henry’s voice cracked with anger.
“We are his children.”
Elena answered quietly.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
“You don’t know what he was like when we were children.”
“No.”
“You weren’t there when Mum died.”
“No.”
“You weren’t there when he built that company.”
“No.”
“You weren’t there for thirty years of this family.”
Elena nodded.
“No.”
Henry spread his arms.
“Then how the hell do you end up with everything?”
Elena looked at him for several seconds.
“Perhaps because I was there at the end.”
That stopped the room.
Caroline’s face hardened.
“Oh, that’s disgusting.”
Elena looked at her.
“What?”
“You think because you played nurse for a few years you earned this?”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“I never said that.”
“You implied it.”
“No. You heard it.”
Caroline stepped forward.
“Don’t play clever with me.”
Elena stood.
For the first time since the meeting began, they were eye to eye.
“I’m not playing anything.”
Caroline laughed.
“Please. You have been performing sainthood for years.”
Peter muttered:
“Jesus Christ.”
Caroline ignored him.
“Standing beside him at every dinner. Holding his arm. Remembering his pills. Speaking for him whenever he was tired.”
Elena’s voice sharpened.
“Because none of you were there.”
Henry slammed his palm against the mantel.
“WE HAD LIVES!”
Elena turned toward him.
“So did I.”
“You were his wife!”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn’t make you better than us!”
“I did not say it did.”
“You keep implying it!”
Elena’s control finally slipped.
“Because you keep forcing me to explain why I was the person in this house!”
