They both stood and turned to me with betrayal on their faces. Good God. What the hell was wrong with everyone? It’s not like I asked for this mess.
Neither one said a word to me as they left the room.
“Those little…” Flint clenched his fists.
I placed a hand on his chest. “Not now. I would like you to stay to hear what she has to say about all this.”
He nodded, then sank into a chair on the front row. I sat next to him. Phyllis raised an eyebrow toward him.
“I want him here for this,” I answered Phyllis’ eyebrow. “We’re investigating Octavio’s murder.”
The lawyer gave me a curt nod, then ordered everyone else out of the room. Including her security guards. The goosebumps were back.
“What’s going on, Phyllis?”
She took a deep breath. “He left you everything.”
“Yeah, I got that from your speech,” I smirked. “But what does that mean?”
“That means you got the house, his cars, the vacation home in the Caymans. Along with the offshore accounts.”
Flint stiffened beside me. “How much is in the offshore accounts?”
I nodded my approval for Phyllis to continue.
“About 25 million, give or take,” she handed me a stack of paperwork. She might as well have sucker-punched me.
I stared at the papers in my hands. “Why?”
“What’s that, now?” Phyllis tilted her head at me.
I leveled my glare at her. “Why? Why did he do this?”
“It’s not my job to delve into the ‘why’ of something, Ms. Cruz,” Phyllis blew out a breath, then reconsidered when she saw my face. “But, I’d say guilt. Guilt for leaving you high and dry all those years ago with the twins.”
“When did he make this will?” I questioned.
“Right after he married the current Mrs. Cruz,” Phyllis closed her files. “I tried to talk him into a prenup before the wedding, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”
“He believed a prenup meant he wasn’t fully on board with the marriage. Like it was doomed to fail,” I explained to Flint. Maybe I was still bitter after all these years. “But, yet, he traded up every single one of his wives when she was closing in on the age of thirty. How old is Echo? Twenty-nine?”
Phyllis’ toothy grin resembled that of a shark. “Thereabouts.”
“He kept getting divorced. And if history was any indication, Echo was next. Why not get prenups? That made no sense,” Flint added.
I agreed with him but grimaced. “Well, he wouldn’t need a prenup if there wasn’t any money to be had. Octavio was great about hiding away his money. Places the wife couldn’t get to it.”
“Why now?” Flint pressed. “Why would he have a change of heart about Celia now?”
“Like I said,” Phyllis eased away from the table and glanced at her watch. “It’s not my job to question his motives. Just execute what he wanted. My advice? Take it. Move on. You earned it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m expected in Will Reading Room Number Two. So many dead clients, so many family members to disappoint! Ta!”
With that, she glided out of the room.
I go back to my original assessment. I’m dead. Or hallucinating.
That is the only excuse for what’s going on in my life right now.
“You’re a multi-millionaire!” Flint’s eyes danced.
