He closed his eyes.
“When?”
“Lots.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily whispered:
“She said money makes you sad.”
That was true.
Daniel had avoided discussing the trust because it was tied to Maya.
Simone had learned his silence was an opening.
“What else did she say?”
Lily hesitated.
Daniel waited.
“She said when you got married she could make grown-up decisions.”
“What decisions?”
“My school.”
“My clothes.”
“My room.”
“She said maybe I could go to boarding school when I got bigger.”
Daniel sat completely still.
“Did you want boarding school?”
“No.”
“Did she say I wanted it?”
Lily nodded.
That hurt differently.
Simone had been building authority by borrowing his.
Daniel whispered:
“I never said that.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“I know now.”
He pulled her close.
“I’m sorry.”
She rested against him.
He did not add I should have known.
Children should not have to comfort parents for missing what adults concealed.
So he simply held her.
The next morning Andre came to the house.
Not as attorney first.
As someone who had known Maya.
He brought bagels.
Lily remembered him vaguely.
Andre sat at the kitchen island while Daniel made coffee.
The trust documents lay between them.
Daniel said:
“Was that signature forged?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“We need forensic examination if you want legal action.”
“Do I?”
Andre looked at him.
“That’s your decision.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes.
“What happens if I do nothing?”
“The false authorization stays documented as rejected.”
“I’ll notify the trust company there was suspected unauthorized communication.”
“Simone receives no access.”
“Could she have gotten anything?”
“No.”
“Not a dollar?”
“No.”
Daniel exhaled.
Andre continued:
“Maya designed this trust well.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“She designed everything well.”
Andre looked toward the hallway where Lily was watching television.
“She worried about exactly this kind of situation.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“Not Simone.”
“Future spouses.”
“Your spouses?”
“And Lily’s eventual partners.”
Andre opened the trust.
“Maya included independent fiduciary provisions because she didn’t want romantic relationships determining access.”