white eyebrows and gives Elizabeth a pointed look.
She squeezes his hand once and sits back, taking a deep breath. She lets go of his hand and lets hers fall to her lap. My eyes catch the movement and my fingers itch to reach out and take her hand in mine, but I don’t. I clasp my hands together and wait for the lawyer to get this shit over with. Whatever the old man left me, I’ll be more than happy to keep as a reminder of him.
Maybe it’s an old watch or a trinket, I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’ll pocket it and move on. Knowing him, it could be his favorite DVD. I huff a small laugh thinking about it. It puts a smile on my face, but then I remember where I am and I feel like an asshole. Neither of them seem to notice though.
“Let’s begin. Richard Francis Turner’s Last Will and Testament.” The lawyer shakes out the pages and starts reading down the lines, completely oblivious to the fact that Elizabeth is stiff at his words. She’s not crying or breaking down like she was at the funeral, but I know hearing those words shook her up. She’s not alright.
Allen’s words turn to white noise as I watch her clutching her necklace and staring straight ahead with a grim look on her face.
If Richard could see her right now it would fucking kill him.
I usually don’t think twice about other people’s pain. That’s life. But watching her trying to hold herself together is breaking something inside of me.
Suddenly, her composure changes into confusion and then anxiety.
I look back to the lawyer, trying to pay attention to whatever he just said.
“Hmm.” Allen looks lost as he goes through the pages. He flips through them and repeats back what he just said. “It all goes to Mr. Axton.”
My forehead pinches as I take in what he’s saying. That can’t be true.
“All?” All of what?
“Everything Richard owned or is in his name, with the exception to the family home, 20 Wyoming and its contents, is to be given freely to Mr. Liam Axton. This includes all other properties, and financial investments, and all the remaining balances in all of his bank accounts. The house, 20 Wyoming, and its contents is to be given to his only surviving heir, Elizabeth Turner.” My body goes cold as he says the words and then looks back up at me, waiting for a response.
“What? No!” Elizabeth grips the chair with both her hands before standing up so fast she nearly sends it flying backward. The chair rocks on its back legs before gently settling.
“That can't be right!” She shakes her head. “Daddy wouldn’t leave me with nothing.”
“I’m sorry, Lizzie,” Allen says, looking back down at the papers in his hand and gripping them harder, wrinkling the pages. He looks back through them as though he read them wrong. “The deed and title for your family home have been put in your name, but all other belongings have been left to Mr. Axton.”
So all he left her was his house, the one right next to the one he gave me, but nothing else. What the fuck?
I remain still, and I struggle to accept this is even real. It must be a mistake. She’s right, there’s no way he wouldn’t have left everything to her. He loved her. He wouldn’t have done that to her.
“This man didn’t even know my father!” Elizabeth points her finger at me for emphasis and chokes on her words as tears prick her eyes.
I reach up for her hand to calm her down and try to explain as I stand, but she rips it away from me. Her wide eyes look at me with worry, and I put both my hands up in surrender.
Her breathing is coming in frantic pants; she looks like she’s on the edge of having a panic attack.
I sit back down, not knowing what to do. I don't want to make her angry, but she sure as shit doesn't want me to comfort her right now.
“I’m sure there’s been a mistake,” I say evenly and calmly. She looks like a wounded animal. My heart hurts for her, so I let the offense slide. She’s just hurting, I have to remind myself.
“Yes,” she says in a high-pitched voice as tears roll down her face. “There’s a mistake.”
“There is no mistake; it's all been left to Mr. Axton.”
The room is quiet for a moment. Why the hell