Daniel looked away.
Leah started crying.
Marcus said nothing.
The meeting ended badly.
Exactly as Margaret had predicted.
They challenged the trust.
Not Ethan.
The other three.
Their attorney argued Margaret may have been unduly influenced because she lived with us.
That she depended on me.
That I had access to her finances.
Gideon expected all of it.
The case took eleven months.
There were depositions.
Medical records.
Interviews with Margaret’s doctor.
Statements from neighbors.
Financial reviews.
Every time someone asked whether I pressured Margaret about money, I answered the same way.
“I didn’t know there was money to pressure her about.”
Gideon’s strongest evidence was not emotional.
It was procedural.
Margaret had met with him repeatedly without me.
She had been independently evaluated.
Another attorney had reviewed the trust terms.
The land had been transferred years before her health seriously declined.
Video recordings showed her explaining the decision in her own words.
