Laura appeared at his side, her hand automatically reaching for his. She looked between us with growing concern.
“What’s going on?”
My brother stepped forward, pulling the envelope from his jacket.
“Mom knew,” he said, his voice ringing through the now-silent room. “About everything.”
Dad’s face went pale. “Knew what? What are you talking about?”
I held up the envelope so everyone could see it.
“She knew about you and Laura. She knew about the affair. She knew about your son. And she knew why you stayed with her instead of leaving.”
Laura made a small, choked sound. “Stop. Please stop.”
“She wrote this letter before she died,” Robert continued, his voice getting louder, stronger. “She gave it to her lawyer with specific instructions. And she made absolutely certain that when you finally decided to make this relationship public, we would know the truth.”
Dad laughed—a short, forced sound. “You’re confused. You’re both grieving and you’re confused. This is—”
“She rewrote her will,” I said, cutting through his protests. “Everything goes to Robert and me. The house, the savings, the life insurance, all of it. You get nothing, Dad. Absolutely nothing.”
The color drained completely from his face. “That’s not possible.”
“It is,” Robert replied. “It’s already done. Already filed. Already legal. Mom made sure of it months before she died.”
Laura stepped back from my father like he’d suddenly become radioactive. Her voice was sharp, accusatory.
“You said it was handled. You said she never suspected anything. You said we just had to wait a respectable amount of time and then everything would work out.”
I looked at both of them—at my father and my aunt, standing there in their wedding clothes with their celebration crumbling around them.
“This wedding didn’t give you a future,” I said quietly. “It exposed the truth. That’s what Mom wanted. That’s why she left these instructions. So you couldn’t hide anymore.”
The room was completely silent. Fifty people standing frozen, holding champagne glasses, staring at the scene unfolding in front of them.
