Chapter 8: The Hearing
The challenge was filed on a Thursday.
By Friday morning, Camila had left three voicemails on Daniel's phone, two on his brother Marcus's phone, and one on the landline at the house — a number I hadn't known she had.
I listened to the one she left at the house.
Her voice was controlled, precise, the way it always was when she was most dangerous.
"I want you to understand something," she said.
"If Daniel testifies against his father, he will lose his family.
All of it.
I will make sure of that.
You think you've won something.
You haven't.
You've started something."
I saved the recording.
I sent it to Elena that afternoon.
Elena's reply came back in four minutes: *Perfect.
Do not delete it.*
The hearing was set for three weeks later.
In those three weeks, Camila made two more attempts.
The first was through Marcus.
He called Daniel and told him their mother was not sleeping, not eating, that this was destroying her.
Daniel listened.
He said he was sorry she was struggling.
He said he was still going to testify.
The second attempt came from Robert Voss directly.
He sent a letter through his own lawyer — not Gerald Marsh, who was disbarred, but a new one — offering a revised settlement.
More money this time.
Enough to make Elena pause for exactly one phone call before I told her no.
"He's scared," Elena said.
"Good," I said.
The hearing room was smaller than I expected.
Wood-paneled walls.
A long table.
A judge named Patricia Okafor who had short gray hair and reading glasses on a chain around her neck.
Robert Voss sat on one side with his lawyer.
I sat on the other side with Elena.
Daniel sat beside me.
Camila was not there.
I noticed that immediately.
The lawyer for Robert Voss argued that the clause was legal, properly executed, and that any claim of inadequate disclosure was undermined by the fact that both parties had signed the purchase agreement.
Elena presented the Gerald Marsh disbarment record.
She presented the two prior properties.
She presented Camila's voicemail.
Then Daniel testified.
He spoke for eleven minutes.
He told the judge what his mother had said to him.
He told her about the wedding threat.
He told her he had been twenty-six years old and that he had been told the clause was standard language.
He told her he had not understood what he was signing or what it could be used for.
Robert Voss's lawyer objected twice.
Judge Okafor overruled both times.
When Daniel finished, the room was quiet.
Robert Voss looked at his lawyer.
His lawyer leaned over and said something quietly.
Robert's expression didn't change, but his hand, resting on the table, closed slowly into a fist.
Judge Okafor looked at the documents for a long moment.
Then she said, "I've seen this clause before.
Not in this courtroom.
But I've seen it." She set down her glasses.
"The pattern of use, the involvement of a subsequently disbarred attorney, and the testimony regarding how the signing was obtained lead me to find that the clause was not entered into with proper informed consent.
It is unenforceable."
Robert Voss stood up.
"Your Honor—"
"Mr.
Voss." Her voice was quiet and final.
"Sit down."
He sat.
May you like
"The right of first refusal is void," she said.
"The current deed stands."
