Instead, I looked at the diagram on the table.

The private vault.

“Thomas,” I said. “What else is down there?”

Thomas looked down at his papers.

He did not answer immediately.

“Thomas?” I repeated.

“Your mother was a very careful woman, Claire,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She knew who Mark was,” Thomas said.

“Before she died?” I asked.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “She knew for a long time.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” I asked.

“She wanted to protect you,” Thomas said.

“By letting him steal?” I asked.

“No,” Thomas said. “By letting him think he was winning.”

He picked up the diagram.

“The vault contains something else,” Thomas said.

“What?” I asked.

“The original deed to the land,” Thomas said.

“The land is already mine,” I said.

“The deed has a clause,” Thomas said.

He looked at me with a serious expression.

“A clause that your father put in thirty years ago,” Thomas said.

“What kind of clause?” I asked.

“A clause regarding the transfer of ownership upon divorce,” Thomas said.

“I don’t understand,” I said.