My father was seated near the fireplace, reading printed pages with the cold concentration he usually reserved for hostile acquisition proposals.
“What did you find?” I asked.
Rebecca tapped the top sheet. “The apartment is clean. Titled solely in your legal name, Eleanor Grace Wilson. Elias has no claim through ownership. The funds came from your trust distribution and a personal savings account. His account was used only as a temporary pass-through for one payment because you were traveling when the deposit deadline arrived.”
“I remember,” I said. “He said it would be easier.”
“And you reimbursed him within twenty-four hours from an account clearly linked to your trust,” Rebecca said. “Documented.”
My shoulders loosened for the first time.
“However,” she continued, “the marriage complicates emotional leverage, not necessarily legal title. Cynthia’s plan seems to rely more on pressure, reputation, and making you abandon the apartment voluntarily than on a strong legal claim.”
