He leaned forward slightly.
“She also believed you deserve to know the truth,” he said, “even if you never chose to act on it.”
He slid the folder toward me but didn’t open it.
“Before we read anything,” he continued, “I need you to hear this from me, not from a document. The will they showed you has no legal standing—if it exists at all. It was created without my involvement and without proper execution. What Margaret prepared here is valid. Enforceable.”
He paused.
“And there’s more. She anticipated resistance. She anticipated manipulation. That’s why she asked me to keep records. And that’s why she recorded a video.”
The word video landed like a quiet thunderclap.
My fingers tightened around the edge of the chair.
He noticed, but he didn’t rush me.
“You don’t have to watch it today,” he said. “You don’t have to do anything today. But you should know that Margaret did not leave this world unprepared.”
His voice softened, just a little.
“She trusted you to handle things with dignity,” he said. “She trusted me to make sure you weren’t alone when the time came.”