“Yes,” he said.

“But I could not let her have them.”

“You saw their faces at the airport, Evelyn.”

“They were terrified.”

I remembered the way Owen had clung to my hand, his small fingers trembling.

I remembered Lily’s silent tears in the backseat.

“We did the right thing,” I said firmly.

“Even if it ruins us.”

Ryker didn’t answer.

He tapped a few keys, his eyes scanning rows of numbers on the screen.

“Marco,” Ryker called out.

Marco stepped closer, leaning over the counter.

“Did your contact in the Cayman Islands get back to you?” Ryker asked.

“Not yet,” Marco said.

“He is waiting for the bank in Grand Cayman to open in the morning.”

“He thinks he found the routing numbers Marissa used to move the estate’s initial holding funds.”

“We need those records, Marco,” Ryker said, his voice tightening.

“We need absolute proof of fraud to show the judge.”

“If we can prove she stole from her own stepchildren, her claim to them is dead.”

I walked over to the old stove and found a metal kettle in the cupboard.