I would be receiving this inheritance, and he may have married me to take advantage of that fact. I’m wondering whether there’s anything I can do to keep the money out of his hands.”
“Oh, I see,” Larry said, frowning. “Are you legally married?”
“We signed documents.”
“That’s not promising,” he said. “May I assume that you’re not in the middle of divorce proceedings?”
“That’s right. I wasn’t sure what I should do,” she said.
“And there’s no reason you wouldn’t have been fit to enter into a marriage?”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like being mentally compromised, underage, secretly married to someone else…” He trailed off. “Those are just some of the potential reasons. I’m not trying to speculate.”
“No, unfortunately, I think I’m a prime candidate for marriage,” she said. “At least, I was. Now I’m just a married woman who’s about to be ripped off.”
“In that case, the best thing you can do is to sign these papers,” Larry said. “If your husband comes in with documentation confirming that you and he are married and you haven’t yet claimed your inheritance, he’s entitled to claim it on your behalf.”
“All of it?” She was stunned.
Larry nodded. “That’s a provision in your mother’s will.”
Naomi pressed her lips together. “Show me where to sign.”
Larry handed her the papers and she signed each one. The feeling was so different from the way she had felt signing her termination papers. This felt like disaster mitigation.
Finally, the signing was done. Larry filed the papers and gave Naomi her check.
“Put this in the bank in a private account under just your name,” he advised. “That will stall things, at least. And you may want to get further legal advice to deal with this.”
“I’ll do that,” Naomi said. “Thanks for your help, Larry.”
“Take care,” he said, standing up and shaking her hand.
Naomi hurried out of the office, headed for the bank, hoping the measures she was taking today would keep her mother’s last gift to her out of Petr’s hands.
Chapter 17
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard flight 357, nonstop to New York City.”
Naomi leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The last twenty-four hours had been such a whirlwind that she almost felt as if she was being airlifted out of her chaotic life and away to somewhere a bit more calm and safe.
But perhaps that was what Sarah had had in mind. When Naomi had called her sister to let her know that she’d kept the appointment Sarah had set up for her with the lawyer, she had ended up confessing to the fact that she’d also left her job. Sarah had been pleased to hear it—“that job was making you miserable,” she’d said—but she’d insisted that Naomi use some of her newfound free time to come back to New York and make up for the time they hadn’t been able to spend together right after their mother’s death.
It was a relief to find out that that was something Sarah had been wanting too. And after everything that had happened with Petr, Naomi knew that it would feel good to be around someone she could feel certain of. She had bought a ticket immediately, forcing herself not to wince at the last-minute airline fare. She wasn’t used to being able to afford this kind of thing.
But I can afford it now, she’d reminded herself. It’s a drop in the bucket.
And now she was on her way. The plane taxied down the runway, picked up speed, and then tilted up, its nose pointing into the sky. Naomi gripped the armrests as she was pressed back into her seat. As soon as the plane had reached its cruising altitude, though, she released the armrest she shared with her neighbor, remembering the way it had felt to be penned in by an armrest hog on the flight home from Europe.
Perhaps it was because her last journey on a plane had been international, but today’s five-hour flight seemed to go by quickly. Not wanting to dwell on thoughts of Petr, she’d downloaded several episodes of an old favorite sitcom to her phone. Now she watched the characters work through their familiar predicaments and find their way to easy solutions. It was comforting, a distraction from the stresses of her real life.
As the plane came in for a landing, Naomi put away her phone and looked out the window at the city below her. She had only visited New York a few times, and it always amazed her. It was so different from Los Angeles. Everything was