Chapter 6 - Defying the King
The air in the room grew completely stagnant. The relentless whispering from the gossiping church ladies abruptly ceased. Everyone was holding their breath.
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
“What exactly does that mean?” she demanded.
Mr. Pierce calmly opened a thick, luxurious leather folder he had been carrying. It was the exact same folder Richard’s anxious eyes had been darting toward ever since the attorney had quietly entered the chapel twenty minutes prior.
“It means,” Mr. Pierce said, his tone unwavering, “that Margaret Carter legally requested her final will and testament be read here, today, before her assembled family, before her burial, and specifically before Mrs. Vanessa Vale or Mr. Richard Vale could attempt to remove Emily Carter from the premises.”
My sister’s mouth fell open. She tried to speak, but absolutely no sound came out of her throat.
The white lilies beside my mother’s casket trembled once again, but this time, no one had touched them. It was as if the room itself was shivering.
Mr. Pierce turned to me, offering a respectful, solemn nod.
“Ms. Carter,” he said quietly. “Are you ready?”
I looked past him, fixing my gaze on my mother’s serene face one last time. I drew strength from the silent, powerful woman she had secretly been in her final days. Then, I turned my eyes directly to Vanessa, who was staring at me with a mixture of hatred and dawning terror.
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“Yes,” I said, my voice ringing out clearly. “Read it.”
Mr. Pierce did not rush. That was the very first thing that truly terrified Richard and Vanessa. He didn't act like a man trying to diffuse a scandal; he walked to the front of the chapel with the measured, deliberate pace of a seasoned prosecutor entering a courtroom. He placed his heavy leather folder onto the wooden lectern, right beside a framed, smiling photograph of my mother.
