Chapter 4

Richard froze when he heard that, and his face crumpled as if he were blaming himself. "This is my fault—I wasn't prepared. I forgot Sue's just an insecure little girl." He paused, then added miserably, "But if he signs this, Victoria's never gonna let go of the family assets."

I couldn't help shaking my head at that. A sixty-something-year-old "little girl"—now that was a first.

No matter how much Richard resisted, Susan and I pushed hard enough that Andrew finally grabbed some paper, a pen, and an ink pad. He wrote out an agreement renouncing his inheritance and stamped his thumbprint on it.

To ensure it would hold up in court, I called the notary's office immediately and had them notarize the entire document.

Once everything was done, I stood up and headed for the door.

Behind me, Susan and Andrew were still wrapped up in each other's arms, sobbing like their hearts were breaking.

Susan noticed me leaving and rushed over to block my path. "Victoria, where are you going?"

"What, you want me to stick around for dinner or something?"

She didn't get mad even though I'd just shut her down. Instead, she softened her voice. "Victoria, I know you're upset about losing the inheritance, but Richard was still your husband. How can you just leave his body behind like this?"

Right. Just minutes ago, these two were fighting tooth and nail over money, and suddenly they remembered that the man they supposedly loved most—the father Andrew claimed to respect—had just died.

And me?

He was just trash. Why should I care when he kicked the bucket?

I sneered, "His favorite person is you, and Andrew's here too. Can't the two of you handle his body? What do you need me for? Well. You took my inheritance, and you won't even help bury Richard?"

My words made Susan take a few steps back. "That's not what I meant, Victoria. I just thought, since he was your husband, you should be the one to handle his funeral arrangements."

I snorted, "I don't want to. He's just some old bastard who cheated on me—why the hell would I deal with his funeral?"

I turned to leave again, but Andrew stepped in front of me, blocking my way. "Mom, how can you treat Susan like this? She was generous enough to let Dad stay with you for decades, and now you're being so petty."

He kept going. "Susan just reminded you to take care of Dad's funeral, and you're acting like this? You're hurting her feelings. She just lost the most important person in her life."

I looked at Andrew as if he were an idiot.

Suppose I hadn't gotten genetic testing done every year during my annual checkups. In that case, I'd seriously wonder if this moron was actually mine.

"I left her the most important person in her life, didn't I? What more do you want from me?" I rolled my eyes and kept walking toward the door.

But Andrew grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. "Funerals cost money, Mom. Even if you won't deal with Dad's affairs, you've gotta at least pay for it."

"Why would I pay for the funeral of the most important person in her life?" I shot him a bewildered look.

Richard's soul drifted over to my side, his voice full of anguish. "Victoria, even if I wronged you this lifetime, we were still married for decades. You won't even pay for my funeral now?"

Andrew turned on me, too, his voice rising. "Mom, he's still my dad! How can you just walk away?"