Chapter 96 - The Child’s Inheritance
Henri Duval picked up the leather binder from the side table and held it out toward Emma. "Mrs. Vance—or rather, Ms. Vance—these documents require your countersignature as legal guardian until Lily reaches majority. The Swiss bank accounts have been frozen pending forfeiture proceedings, but the unencumbered holdings—this land, the trust fund established by your father, and the upstate properties—belong legally and irrevocably to your daughter."
Emma looked down at the thick stack of parchment. For decades, the Vance fortune had been a noose around her family's neck, a weapon Julian and Eleanor used to beat down any spark of independence.
"What is the land worth?" Emma asked.
"The acreage alone, bordering the lake? Several million dollars," Henri replied calmly. "The house itself would require substantial remediation, or..."
"Tear it down," Emma said without hesitating.
Claire let out a short, startled laugh that quickly dissolved into a smile of pure relief. "You're serious?"
"I don't want Lily growing up in the shadow of this rot," Emma said, turning to look at her sister. "We sell the timber rights to a conservancy, level this mausoleum to the ground, and build something clean. A park. A sanctuary. Anything that doesn't carry their names."
Lily looked up at Emma, her eyes wide. "Mommy, does that mean we can keep the presents we brought?"
Emma smiled, a real, bright smile that reached all the way to her eyes for the first time in seven terrifying days. "We can keep all the presents, baby. Every single one. And we're going to open them in our own house, with the wood stove burning and hot chocolate on the counter."
Claire walked over and knelt beside Lily. She reached into her sheepskin coat and pulled out a small, carved wooden horse—rough-hewn, smooth with age, painted in faded Scandinavian red.
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"I carved this when I was sixteen," Claire said softly, placing it into Lily's small palm. "I kept it in my pocket through Zurich, through London, through Montreal. I saved it for the day I met my sister’s daughter. You are not a burden, little one. You are the only good thing this family ever made."
Lily clutched the horse to her chest and beamed. "Thank you, Aunt Claire."
