I lowered myself into the chair opposite him.
“Open it,” he said gently. “I’m sorry. I’ve carried this for two years.”
I raised the lid.
Clara’s wedding ring rested above a folded cream-colored envelope, its diamond catching the light.
Beneath the envelope were several official-looking papers.
I opened the handwritten note first.
It was unmistakably Clara’s writing.
Evelyn, under no circumstances trust Michael.
The words left my mouth before I realized I was reading aloud.
The lawyer flinched.
“Keep reading,” he murmured.
Evelyn, I know you’ll think marrying him honors me. It doesn’t. It erases you.
Something deep inside me splintered.
I covered my mouth with one hand and continued.
Michael always leaned too heavily on whoever loved him.
He wanted caretakers, not partners. He is drowning in debts I only discovered at the end, and he will look for the softest place to land.
That place will be you, because you look like me and because you are lonely.
There are three envelopes beneath this note.
Bank statements. A second mortgage he took out without telling me. A letter from a man he owes more money than our house is worth.
If he has already married you, then everything I feared has come true, and I am so, so sorry I could not warn you sooner.
My throat tightened until I could hardly breathe.
The attorney rested his folded hands on the tabletop.
