Susan shook her head.
“That is not what happened.”
Michael looked at Robert.
Robert finally spoke.
“Michael contacted my office after refusing to sign one of those documents.”
I stared at him.
“You went to Robert?”
“I didn’t know he was Eleanor’s attorney,” Michael said. “I knew he had handled some things for you after Dad died. I wanted to know if Susan could pressure you into anything.”
Robert nodded.
“I could not disclose Janice’s financial circumstances. I could, however, explain that no competent adult should sign away authority merely because relatives find it convenient.”
Susan’s voice rose.
“I was trying to protect the family!”
“From what?” Michael asked.
She gestured wildly toward me.
“From eventually having to pay for everything!”
There it was.
Not hidden.
Not softened.
Not private.
The same truth, spoken now in front of everyone.
Michael stared at her.
“I asked you one question that night.”
Susan’s face tightened.
He continued.
“I asked what you would do if my mother were wealthy.”
Nobody moved.
My heart began pounding.
Susan whispered, “Don’t.”
Michael looked at me.
“The recording Robert played ended too early.”
Robert’s eyes met mine.
I understood.
There was more.
I nodded.
Robert motioned toward the sound booth.
The screen came alive again.
Michael appeared on the couch.
His recorded voice asked:
“What if Mom had money?”
Susan laughed.
“A lot?”
“Enough that she’d never need us.”
Susan’s expression changed on the video.
Completely.
She sat beside him.
“Well, obviously that would be different.”
“How?”
“She wouldn’t need assisted living right away. We could help manage things.”
“Manage what?”
Susan smiled.
“Her assets.”
A horrible silence spread through the ballroom.
Then recorded Michael asked the question that changed everything.
“And if there were a couple million?”
Susan answered without hesitation.
**“Then we’d be stupid not to make sure it stayed in the family.”**
The video ended.
In the ballroom, Susan looked as if she had been struck.
Her eyes darted toward me.
Toward Michael.
Toward the screen.
Then toward the document in my hand.
