My husband had spent years warning me never to set foot on that farm. So after he passed away and the lawyer handed me the key, saying that from now on the place belonged to me, I was ready to sell it right away and put everything behind me. But before making my final decision, I still wanted to see it once for myself. When the door opened, I finally understood why, all those years, he had never wanted me to set foot there.

“Ellis is employed by me,” I said. “Which makes this his concern too.”

Allan interjected smoothly, “Pending resolution of ownership, employment arrangements may also be subject to review.”

Ellis did not move an inch. “Mr. Mitchell hired me direct and made me promise to look after the place.”

Robert dismissed him with a glance. “We’ll revisit all staffing decisions later.”

I looked from one brother to the next, then at my daughter.

“You all need to leave.”

Silence.

Jenna stared at me. “You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“Even me?”

I held her gaze. “You are always welcome here. They are not.”

That landed where I meant it to, not as rejection, but as a line.

Jenna’s face changed. Not much. Just enough for me to see the war inside her. Loyalty, anger, humiliation, hunger for explanation, the ache of her father still fresh enough to make any thread to him feel valuable.

“I think I’ll go with them,” she said finally. “For now.”

She kissed my cheek quickly. The gesture was so automatic, so little-girl familiar, that it hurt worse than the words.

“Think about the offer,” she said.

Then she turned and left with them.