The room felt suddenly colder.

“She did it for us,” I said.

“She did it for you,” Helen corrected. “But if the state finds out she is alive, do you know what happens to the estate?”

I didn’t answer.

“The court freezes everything,” Helen said. “Every bank account, every restaurant deed, every asset associated with her name.”

I felt my chest tighten.

“You wouldn’t do that,” I said. “It would ruin you too.”

Helen smiled, a small, bitter line on her face.

“I have my own savings, Emily. Secured long before Gavin arrived.”

She tapped her manicured fingernail against the mahogany table.

“But you,” she whispered. “You would lose the restaurants instantly.”

I looked at the window.

The rain was starting to beat against the glass now.

A storm was coming in from the coast.

“You would protect Gavin just to spite me?” I asked.

“Gavin is a fool,” Helen said. “But he is a fool I can manage. You, on the other hand, have become a liability.”

I gripped my phone tighter.

The screen lit up with another message from Daniel.