Chapter 2 – The Family in the Room
The will reading took place in a small conference room crowded with Ashford relatives Lucy had never met — cousins, aunts, an elderly woman introduced simply as “Walter’s sister,” all of them regarding her with a mixture of curiosity and unmistakable confusion.
“Who exactly is she,” one relative whispered, not quietly enough, to another. “I don’t recognize the name at all. Was she one of Walter’s clients or something?”
Ms. Prescott began the reading efficiently, working through smaller bequests to various family members before pausing at a section that visibly required more careful explanation.
“Before I read the final provision,” she said, “I need to share some context Mr. Ashford specifically requested be explained alongside the will itself, rather than left for the family to discover through the document alone.”
She turned to a woman seated near the back of the room, considerably younger than most of the other relatives, introduced simply as Nora. “Nora Ashford has asked to speak briefly before I continue, with the family’s understanding in advance that what follows may be difficult to hear.”
Nora rose slowly, her hands trembling slightly, and looked directly at Lucy for the first time since she’d entered the room.
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