“I took care of him when he had no one else, Caleb,” I said, standing up from the chair, holding the red dress carefully against my chest. “He was fully lucid when we were married by the hospital chaplain. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
“We will have the marriage annulled by Monday morning!” Caleb barked, stepping into my personal space, his hands clenching into fists. “You think you can walk out of a hospital room with fourteen million dollars of Vance family assets because you held an old man’s hand for seven days? You are a nobody, Nora. A fraud.”
“I am his wife,” I said, holding my ground, my voice steady despite the adrenaline racing through my veins. “And under the terms of Julian’s trust, I am the sole executor of his estate and the sole owner of the Oak Tailor property downtown.”
Caleb leaned in, his tone dropping to a dangerous whisper. “Listen to me very carefully, little girl. My firm is developing a fifty-story luxury tower on that block. That property is the anchor of the entire project. I have spent three years positioning investors for this deal. If you try to stand in my way, my legal team will bury you in litigation until you don’t have a single penny left to your name. Hand over the deed, or I will destroy you.”
