“But recently, Keith’s interest in my company has shifted from companionship to my property.”
Keith stood.
“This is unbelievable.”
“Sit down,” Brenda said.
“I don’t have to listen to this.”
“No,” she replied.
“You don’t.
But if you intend to contest these arrangements, you may want to know what evidence exists.”
He sat.
Dad continued.
He said Keith had repeatedly raised the possibility that I would be unable to maintain the estate alone.
Justine had suggested the house could be modernized and the acreage sold in sections.
On one Sunday afternoon, believing Dad was asleep in the adjoining room, they had discussed how quickly they could begin making changes after his death.
Justine went rigid.
Kyle stared at her.
Dad had heard them.
Every word.
That was when he called Brenda.
The trust had already been under consideration, but after that conversation he completed it.
“I built this place for my family,” Dad said from the screen.
“Not for people standing beside my grave calculating its resale value.”
Justine’s face flushed.
“I never said that.”
Dad’s recording continued as though answering her.
“And because people sometimes deny their own words when money becomes involved, Brenda has my permission to preserve the recordings from the security system covering the garden terrace.”
Justine stopped breathing for a moment.
I remembered the camera Dad had installed after someone stole tools from the greenhouse two years earlier.
Keith looked at her.
“You said there wasn’t audio.”
There it was.
Not a denial.
An admission that they had thought about whether they had been recorded.
Brenda closed the laptop.
“I think that is sufficient for today.”
Keith stood again.
“No.
Frank was manipulated.”
“By whom?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“You.”
I almost laughed.
“I didn’t even know the trust existed.”
“You expect us to believe that?” Justine snapped.
Brenda answered before I could.
“Yes, because I can document that Paige was not present for its preparation, execution or recording.
Frank explicitly requested that she not be informed until after his death.”
Keith’s anger shifted toward Brenda.
“You helped him cut everyone out.”
“No,” she said.
“I helped my client carry out his instructions.”
Kyle finally spoke.
“He didn’t cut everyone out.”
We all looked at him.
My brother wiped his face.
“He left me an investment account.
He just didn’t leave me the house.”
