“Lila,” he said gently, crouching so his eyes met hers. “Your father was a good man. He would never have wanted this for you.”

She blinked at him, too bewildered to speak. Edward’s gaze hardened briefly in the direction where Victoria’s car had vanished, then softened again as he placed a steady hand on her shoulder.
“Come with me,” he said quietly. “There’s something you need to see.”

That moment changed everything.

Edward wasn’t there by coincidence. He had been Jonathan Monroe’s attorney — the keeper of documents that had never been shown to anyone. Among them was a recently revised will that would alter Lila’s entire future.

He helped her into his black sedan, the leather interior faintly scented with cedar and tobacco. She held her backpack close, her voice trembling.
“Where are we going?”