Lenora lifted her chin.
“I told her what was necessary.”
“To keep her quiet.”
“To keep her stable.”
“You stole thirty-one years from us.”
“I saved her life.”
“And destroyed it.”
The nurse quietly stepped away from the wheelchair.
Lenora noticed.
“Leave us.”
The nurse did not move.
“Mrs. Vale,” she said, “perhaps Evelyn should return to her room.”
“No one is leaving,” Daniel said.
Lenora’s eyes moved toward the ceiling.
Almost imperceptibly, she nodded.
Four security guards entered through separate doors.
Thomas muttered, “There it is.”
Lenora remained calm.
“Give me the contents of the chest, Claire.”
“No.”
“The documents belong to my daughter.”
“They prove the Bennett inheritance belongs to me.”
“Land has caused enough suffering in this family.”
“Then why have you spent thirty-one years trying to control it?”
Her gaze became cold.
“Because sentimental men intended to waste a fortune on trees and birds.”
The honesty surprised me.
