“You’ll be forced to sell, and when you do, I will be there to buy it for pennies.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I whispered.

“I already have,” Graham said.

He reached out and tapped the wood of the altar with his knuckle.

“Think about it, Evelyn.”

“You can fight this in court for the next ten years, or you can hand over the deed to the harbor property now.”

“I am not giving you a single inch of my grandmother’s land,” I said.

Graham sighed, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt.

“Then I’ll see you in court on Monday,” he said.

He turned on his heel and walked back down the aisle, his long strides carrying him quickly to the exit.

The heavy doors closed behind him with a dull, echoing thud.

The chapel fell into a suffocating silence.

I sank onto the wooden bench of the front pew, my knees trembling.

“He’s bluffing about Marjorie,” I said, looking up at Julian.

“My grandmother would never have coerced her.”

Julian slowly folded the yellowed document and placed it back in his briefcase.