She stepped back, her shoulder hitting the edge of the refrigerator.

“You said they were settled,” she whispered.

“They were settled as long as you stayed gone,” Richard said.

He turned his full attention back to me.

“And you, Evelyn,” he said, his voice softening into a terrifying mock tenderness.

“You think you are doing something noble here.”

“I am trying to find the truth, Richard,” I said.

“The truth will cost you everything,” he said.

He tapped his fingers on the marble.

“If you let her drag this into the light, I will tie Rose up in litigation until she is bankrupt.”

“She won’t even be able to afford a rental apartment when I’m done with her,” he said.

I looked at Rose, whose eyes were wide with terror.

She was shaking, the key slipping slightly in her sweaty palm.

Richard knew exactly which buttons to push.

He had spent his entire career using money to silence obstacles.

“Is that what you want for Claire’s biological mother, Evelyn?” Richard asked.

He was testing me, weighing my loyalty against my fear.