legal parts until you’re older.
I handle bedtime.”
Claire smiled.
Then she opened her violin case and ran one finger over the pearl buttons sewn into the lining.
Daniel had believed inheritance was money he deserved to take.
Rachel had understood it differently.
The trust was not a prize.
The house was not a kingdom.
They were protections built by a mother who knew she might not always be there to stand between her daughter and someone else’s greed.
Daniel tried to cut Claire down minutes before those protections reached the door.
Instead, he left behind the evidence that ensured he would never enter her life again.
