Chapter 2: The Folder in the Drawer
Part 2 — continued from the comments ⬇️
Heloise didn't stay on the floor long.
She stood slowly, straightened her jacket, and pulled out her phone.
Her hands weren't shaking.
That was the part that scared me most.
"You just made a very expensive mistake," she said.
"My lawyer will hear about this before morning."
I held Thora tighter.
"Call whoever you want."
She smiled.
"You don't even know what you signed, do you?"
I said nothing.
She walked to the kitchen drawer — the one I never used — and pulled out a folder.
Thick.
Organized.
Tabbed.
She set it on the counter and slid it toward me.
"Eight months ago, you were grieving and exhausted and you needed someone to handle things.
So you let me handle things." She tapped the folder.
"You signed a co-management agreement on the property.
Joint access to the household accounts.
And a clause that gives me legal standing if you become — and I'm quoting here — *emotionally unfit to manage the estate.*"
Thora pressed her face into my shoulder.
"She cried every night," Heloise added, almost gently.
"I have recordings."
My hands went cold.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from a number I didn't recognize.
*She's been planning this since the funeral.
May you like
I have proof.
Don't sign anything else.*
