Beatrice took a menacing step toward me with her finger shaking in the air. “What you are doing is elder abuse after everything my son has sacrificed to give you a respectable name.”
I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the idea that Preston had given me anything other than a headache and a stack of lies. “Your son gave me nothing but debt and deception, Beatrice, and it’s time you faced that reality.”
Meredith opened a second folder and held up the certified trust documents for them to see. “These records prove Julianne Thorne is the sole beneficiary of the estate; Mr. Miller has zero equity and no legal right to remain on the premises.”
Chloe hissed a vulgar insult under her breath, but her bravado was clearly starting to crumble. Preston approached me, lowering his voice into a manipulative, soft tone he usually reserved for apologizing after a late-night bender.
“We can handle this quietly in the bedroom, Jules; you didn’t need to humiliate me in front of my parents like this.”
I looked him in the eye and realized I no longer saw the charming man I had met at a gallery opening in Santa Fe. I saw a cornered animal who was finally out of places to hide.