For several seconds, he could not speak.
Then he looked toward Marcus.
"Find out what happened to Bennett House."
Mara learned about the financial investigation from a call Daniel made that afternoon.
She was at her architecture office, reviewing construction drawings for a neighborhood library renovation.
Her assistant appeared at the doorway.
"Daniel's on the phone."
Mara looked up.
For a moment, she hesitated.
Then she answered.
"Hello?"
Daniel sounded tired.
"Mara, do you have a minute?"
She looked toward the drawings.
"Yes."
He took a breath.
"I need to ask you about Bennett House."
Her expression changed.
"What about it?"
"My mother was trying to include the property in a restructuring."
Mara sat straighter.
"What kind?"
He explained what Marcus had found.
The proposed transfer of authority.
The potential sale.
The financial pressure.
For several seconds, Mara was silent.
Then she asked quietly, "Did you sign?"
"No."
She closed her eyes.
Relief washed through her.
Then anger.
She remembered the meetings years earlier.
The developer presentations.
Her questions.
Evelyn's contempt.
Daniel's unwillingness to confront the problem.
Mara took a breath.
"Daniel, this is exactly what I was worried about."
He swallowed.
"I know."
She stared.
For a moment, the words startled her.
He had never answered that way before.
She continued carefully.
"The building houses several organizations. They're not simply tenants on a spreadsheet. If the property changes hands, the trust has obligations and the service providers need proper notice and planning."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
Daniel was quiet.
Then he answered.
"I'm beginning to."
Mara closed her eyes.
She wanted to be angry.
She was angry.
But she also heard something she had rarely heard from him during their marriage.
A willingness to acknowledge that she had been right without immediately defending his mother.
She looked toward the plans on her desk.
"What do you need from me?"
Daniel hesitated.
"The alternatives you prepared before we separated."