The snow fell thick over Denver, blurring the sharp lines of the downtown skyscrapers.

Inside the twentieth-floor office, the radiators hummed a low, dry tune.

I pressed my hand against the cold glass of the window, waiting.

The glass vibrated with the distant rumble of city traffic below.

Behind me, the leather chairs groaned as my parents shifted.

I had not seen them in sixteen years.

My mother smelled of expensive, heavy perfume that did not mask the sour scent of the street slush on her boots.

My father adjusted his gold watch, his fingers tapping a restless rhythm on his knee.

“We should begin,” my father said, his voice tight. “We have a flight back to Scottsdale in three hours.”

Malcolm Sayer did not look up from his desk.

He adjusted his spectacles, his hand steady as he sorted through a stack of thick cream paper.

“We will begin when the clock strikes ten, Harold,” Malcolm said.

My mother cleared her throat, a sharp, dry sound.

“I still do not understand why Avery has to be here for the entire reading,” she said, looking at my reflection in the glass.

“Elliot knew we were his only surviving family. Avery was just a dependent.”

I did not turn around.

I watched her reflection instead, noting the deep lines around her mouth that makeup could not hide.

She had left me when I was fourteen, leaving nothing but a folded piece of notebook paper on the kitchen table.

Now, she wanted my uncle’s logistics empire.

“Avery is Elliot’s niece, Eleanor,” Malcolm said mildly. “She is also the primary name in this estate.”

The clock on the wall clicked to ten.

Malcolm picked up a silver paperweight, placing it carefully on the corner of his desk.

“Let us be brief,” Malcolm said. “Elliot was a practical man. He did not care for ceremonies.”

My father leaned forward, his elbows resting on his trousers.

“The Northline Logistics shares,” my father said. “How are they divided?”

“They are not divided,” Malcolm said.

My mother smiled, a quick, triumphant flash of teeth. “Of course. He kept the company whole. Smart.”