Difficulty keeping track of financial paperwork.
None of those descriptions had come from me.
One appeared in notes attached to tax records Rebecca had organized.
Another appeared beside a copied bank statement Philip had labeled for “future planning.”
They had been documenting a version of me that did not exist.
“They were creating a history,” I said.
Martin nodded.
“That is what concerns me.”
A fist struck the door harder.
“Mom!” Rebecca called.
I stood.
Martin touched the folder.
“You do not have to speak to them tonight.”
“Yes,” I said.
“I do.”
I opened the door but kept myself between them and the hallway.
Rebecca pushed past the threshold before I could stop her.
Philip followed.
She looked around the living room immediately.
The silver tray that normally sat on the sideboard was gone.
So was James’s clock.
The cabinet where I kept family documents stood nearly empty.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“I protected my property.”
“From whom?”
I held her gaze.
“You.”
Philip laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“This is absurd.”
Martin stepped into view.
Philip’s laughter stopped.
Rebecca looked at the open folder on the kitchen table.
“You called him?”
“Yes.”
“Because Sophie misunderstood a private conversation?”
The speed of her answer told me something important.
I had never said Sophie told me.
Martin noticed too.
His eyes shifted toward Rebecca.
I kept my voice calm.
“I never told you how I found out.”
Silence.
Philip turned toward his wife.
Rebecca blinked once.
Then she recovered.
“Well, who else could it have been? She was in the house.”
“You told us you were traveling for business meetings.”
“We had meetings.”
“With a guardianship attorney.”
Rebecca looked at Martin.
“That is privileged.”
Martin folded his hands.
“I am not your attorney, Rebecca, and I have not obtained privileged communications.
I confirmed the nature of the professional services you were seeking and compared that information to documents already in your mother’s possession.”
Philip pointed toward me.
“We were planning ahead because she is seventy-two years old.”
