Chapter 2 - Zero Authority
Renata got to the hospital before the sun came up.
She didn't knock. She walked in, set her briefcase on the chair by my bed, and stood over the bassinet looking at my daughter for a long moment.
"She's beautiful," she said quietly.
Then she snapped the briefcase open.
"Sign here. And here."
I signed without reading a word. I had written those documents myself two years ago. I knew exactly what every clause did.
By six that morning, the Calloway Family Trust had a new controlling directive, filed and timestamped.
Damien showed up at nine, carrying the paper bag of supplements and wearing the easy, relaxed smile of a man who was certain he had already won.
He pushed the door open.
He stopped.
Renata was sitting in the corner chair, legs crossed, calmly reading from a folder.
The smile slid off his face.
"What is she doing here?"
"Visiting," I said.
"Adeline." His voice dropped into a warning. "Whatever the two of you cooked up overnight —"
"The trust amendment was filed at six fifty-two this morning," Renata said, without looking up from the page. "Congratulations, Damien. As of a few hours ago, you hold exactly zero discretionary authority over the Calloway estate. You can't move a dollar. You can't touch a share. You can't so much as change the letterhead without my client's signature."
The paper bag slipped out of his hand and hit the floor. A bottle rolled under the bed.
He looked at me.
I looked back at him the same way he had looked at me the night before. Like staff who were no longer needed.
"This isn't over," he said.
I glanced down at my daughter.
"No," I said. "It's just getting started."
Then my phone lit up on the tray table.
Unknown number.
May you like
And the name that came up under it made Renata go completely still in her chair.
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