He looked at me with a desperate, pleading intensity.

“I need you to cover my liabilities with the creditors,” he said. “Just the commercial loans. It’s four million dollars.”

I almost laughed, but the cold air caught in my throat, turning into a dry cough.

“Four million dollars?” I said. “You want me to pay off your debts after you and your mother spent three years draining my startup’s reserve fund?”

“It was Patricia’s idea,” he insisted, his voice rising. “She told me you agreed to it. She said it was a family investment.”

“You knew exactly what she was doing,” I said. “You signed the transfer requests.”

“Because she threatened to cut me out of the estate!” he yelled, the sound echoing off the brick walls. “You don’t know what she’s like when she’s cornered, Claire. She will destroy anyone.”

Elena walked over, her face set in a hard, uncompromising line.

“Harrison, you need to step back,” Elena said, her hand resting on her coat pocket where she kept her phone. “This conversation is over. If you want to negotiate, you do it through my office tomorrow morning.”