Chapter 5
We called Evelyn’s lawyer first thing Monday morning.
Mr. Henderson had been her lawyer for 30 years.
He sat us down in his office, the summons on his desk, and sighed.
“Mark has a weak case on paper. No proof of coercion, no witnesses, nothing but the age gap. But juries are unpredictable. Especially when the defendant looks like you, Ethan.”
He nodded at me.
“Young, broke, married a woman 46 years older. It doesn’t look good. Mark will drag every dirty part of your past into that courtroom. The debt. The truck. The fact that you never told anyone about your mom. He’ll make you look like a monster.”
I leaned back in the chair, defeat heavy in my chest.
“So what do we do?”
“Fight,” Lila said, slamming her hand on the desk. “Evelyn hated Mark. He stole $20,000 from her five years ago. She cut him off after that. He’s just mad he didn’t get the money he thought he was owed.”
Mr. Henderson nodded.
“That helps. But we need more. We need proof that Evelyn was of sound mind when she changed the will. Proof that she knew exactly what she was giving Ethan, and why.”
I thought of the shoebox.
The letters.
The photos.
The USB drive.
“The USB,” I said, sitting up. “Evelyn left a USB drive in the box. I haven’t looked at it yet. Maybe there’s something on there.”
We went back to the yellow house, plugged the drive into Lila’s laptop.
There was one video file.
Dated two weeks before Evelyn died.
I pressed play.
Evelyn was sitting in her favorite armchair, wearing the blue sweater I’d bought her for Christmas, hair twisted up in that bun she loved.
She smiled when she saw the camera.
“Hi, Ethan. Hi, Lila. If you’re watching this, Mark is probably being a pain in the ass. I knew he’d contest the will. That boy has been greedy since he was 10 years old.”
She laughed a little, then winced, putting a hand on her chest.
“The doctor says my heart is getting weaker. I don’t have much time left. So I wanted to say this on camera, for the judge, for anyone who doubts us.”
She leaned forward, eyes sharp, clear as a bell.
“I, Evelyn Marie Hale, being of completely sound mind, declare that every decision I made in my last will and testament was my own. No one pressured me. No one manipulated me. I knew exactly what I was doing when I left the house to Lila, the money to the shelter, and the cottage, the tools, and the bank account to Ethan.”
She looked right into the camera, like she was talking directly to me.
“Ethan Michael Carter came into my life when I was ready to give up. I’d been alone for 12 years. I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone to take care of. Someone who needed me. He didn’t marry me for love at first. I knew that. But love grows. And I loved him like he was my own son. He deserved every good thing I could give him. And more.”
She turned to Lila.
“Lila, my sweet girl. You’re the daughter I always wanted. Take care of the house. Take care of the shelter. And take care of that stubborn boy of mine. He’s going to try to do everything alone. Don’t let him.”
She paused, wiped a tear from her cheek.
“One last thing. For the judge. For Mark. For anyone who thinks Ethan took advantage of me. I have the bank records. I have the letters. I have the doctor’s notes saying I was perfectly competent up until the day I collapsed. And I have this.”
She held up a piece of paper to the camera.
A handwritten agreement, dated the day we got married.
I stared at it, shocked.
I’d never seen it before.
“Ethan and I agreed before we married,” she said, “that he would get nothing if I died within a year. That he would only inherit anything if he stayed, and took care of me, and proved he was the good man I knew he was. He stayed. He took care of me. He earned every single thing I gave him. And anyone who says different is lying.”
She smiled again, soft this time.
“I love you both. Don’t fight each other. Fight for each other. That’s what family does.”
The video ended.
Lila was crying.
I was too.
Mr. Henderson watched the video twice, then leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face.
“That changes everything. That video is ironclad. Evelyn’s doctor will testify she was competent. The agreement proves there was no trickery. Mark doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
He looked at me.
“We’re going to win, Ethan. But it’s not going to be easy. Mark is going to fight dirty. He’s going to say the video was faked. That you forced her to say those things. You have to be ready for that.”
I thought of Evelyn’s face in the video.
The way she’d smiled when she talked about me.
The way she’d known Mark would cause trouble, and planned for it anyway.
May you like
I nodded.
“I’m ready. I’m not letting him take what she gave us. Not without a fight.”
