Chapter 7

When the camera in the bridal suite went live, Julian was still staring at the circle on the page.

The audience couldn’t see the entire document. They saw the apartment, the beach house, the jewelry, and the cash crossed out. They also saw the words at the beginning of the final line.

Whitford Voting Rights.

They represented a block of shares my mother had held in the Ashford Group.

After the ceremony, the Ashfords expected me to sign a separate transfer into a joint trust, with Julian holding the proxy.

The transfer was not automatic.

The election I had just…