Chapter 6 - Daniel’s Final Protection
Daniel had set up the cameras.
Avery used to tease him about it. He said too many people treated grief, illness, and crisis as open doors, and he wanted the house protected if Avery ever had to deal with her parents alone.
“You think my family is going to rob us on camera?” she had asked once.
Daniel looked at her with sad patience.
“I think they’ll do whatever you let them do privately. So don’t make it private.”
At the time, Avery called him dramatic.
Now she silently apologized to a man who could no longer hear it.
She had also followed one more piece of Daniel’s advice. The day after the accident, before the funeral, Avery called the trust attorney and forwarded every document Daniel had helped uncover. She explained that her husband and daughter had died and that she feared her parents would attempt to pressure her for money.
The attorney’s response had been immediate.
Do not sign anything. Do not give them cash. Record all contact where legally permitted. Preserve all messages. If they come to the house, keep them outside.
So Avery did.
Brenda tried again. “Sweetheart, grief is making you paranoid.”
Avery almost smiled.
There it was. The oldest family spell. If Avery noticed harm, she was dramatic. If she protected herself, she was paranoid. If she refused money, she was selfish. If she gave money, she was finally behaving like family.
“Grief made me quiet,” Avery said. “The documents made me certain.”
Harold’s anger returned, but weakly. “You don’t want to start a legal fight with us.”
“I didn’t start it.”
Caleb’s face twisted. “Are you seriously choosing some dead man’s paperwork over your living family?”
For the first time that morning, Avery’s voice sharpened.
“Say my daughter’s name.”
Caleb blinked.
“What?”
“You came here for forty thousand dollars three days after her funeral. Say Lily’s name.”
He looked away.
That told Avery everything she needed, though not everything she had expected to survive hearing.
She closed the folder.
“My attorney has copies. The trustee has copies. Daniel’s brother has copies. If any of you contact me for money again, the next conversation happens through lawyers.”
Brenda stared at her daughter like she had never seen her before.
May you like
Maybe she hadn’t.
Maybe she had only ever seen a door that opened when they pushed hard enough.
