Eleanor scoffed. "You're not serious."
But Lucy was, in fact, dead serious. She grabbed her purse and fished out her phone. As she brought it out, she dialed a number.
"Who are you calling?" Xander asked.
Lucy didn't answer. Instead, she put the call on speaker.
"Mrs. Whitmore?" a voice from the other end said.
"Detective Claire, good afternoon," Lucy said in an oddly calm voice. "I need you to come to my home immediately. There's been a forced entry, and now, assault. I'd like to press charges."
"You wouldn't…" Eleanor said as her face drained of color.
"I'm sure we can talk about this," Xander cut in.
"Oh, we will," Lucy said. "We'll talk about it in front of an officer. And then later, we'll talk about it in front of a judge."
She looked at them both.
"Now, I suggest you leave before the police get here."
In that moment, Xander dragged his mother toward the door and without another word, they both dragged their suitcases out of the house and slammed the door behind them.
"Mrs. Whitmore?" the voice on the other end of the line called out. "What's going on?"
Lucy finally let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding.
"I'm sorry, Miss Helen," Lucy said. "Thank you for your time."
And with that, Lucy hung up and fell to the floor. She wrapped her arms around herself and trembled freely. There was no one watching her. She was free to feel everything she wanted to feel.
She stared at the front door as her chest ached even more. She wanted to cry but she couldn't, the tears just wouldn't come.
Eleanor was the executor of the trust? Why hadn't she known that? Why hadn't she known that there was a family trust fund? What else was the lawyer keeping from her?
Mateo sat at the top of the stairs, he didn't make a sound. He'd heard everything. Isla had slept off soon after they got to the room, leaving him with time to sneak back to the head of the stairs and listen in.
He hated this. He hated how his mother was fighting and how he couldn't help her. He hated that things weren't like how they used to be. He didn't want to be afraid in his own house and most importantly, he didn't want to see his mom cry anymore.
Downstairs, Lucy sat herself up as she told herself that she could afford to break down.
She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Even though her hands trembled as she drank it, she still forced herself to finish. She needed to be hydrated for the conversation she was about to have.
She walked back to the living room and grabbed her phone, dialing Mr. William Roth's number.
The line rang only once before he picked up.
"Mrs. Whitmore," he said with a smooth voice. "Congratulations on our earlier win."
"I need answers," Lucy said, immediately skipping the pleasantries. "You said I was the primary beneficiary. You said everything Damien had would be passed down to me. So why the hell is Eleanor calling herself the executor of the trust? And is there even a trust?"
There was a short pause before Mr. William Roth spoke up.
"The trust and the will are two separate matters."
"What does that mean?"
"It means," Mr. Roth said, "that Damien placed the house and a portion of his company shares under a family trust a year ago to protect them from legal exposure. At the time, he named Eleanor as the executor in case something happened to him before the trust could be updated."
"So you're telling me," Lucy said as she gritted her teeth and grabbed onto a chair for support. "You're telling me that my mother in law has power over my house and my children's future because of something Damien never updated?"
"No, no. The trust only affects property held by the trust. You're still the legal guardian of your children and the heir to everything else."
Lucy closed her eyes and let herself collapse onto the couch. "Can she take the house?"
"Not if we challenge the trust," William said.
Lucy groaned.
"I'll file the paperwork in the morning. But Lucy, if we do this, it'll get messy."
Lucy opened her eyes and looked out the kitchen window, she saw the garden that Damien had planted with Mateo last summer, although it was now overrun with weeds.
"Let it get messy. I'm not going down without a fight," she whispered.
As she ended the call, Mateo walked up to her. He was still in his school uniform.
"Hey," she whispered as she tried to keep her voice cheerful.
"I'll fight too," he said. His eyes lit up with fiery determination.
"What?"
"I'll fight too," the boy repeated.
No, she couldn't do this again. She couldn't cry, not in front of her little boy.
But it was too late, the tears were already flowing down her face. She held her son close and wept. Mateo hugged his mother and pat her back gently.
"Don't worry, mommy," he said as he sniffled. "I will take care of Isla. She won't even notice that Dad's gone. And if you need time to yourself, I will make sure she doesn't miss you too much."
Lucy cried even louder, she felt sorry that she was putting all of this burned on the shoulder of her six year old. She was grateful to have such a wonderful child like Mateo, but she couldn't help but feel sorry.
She felt sorry for the little boy who should've never had to grow up so soon.
That night, after the kids ate and were tucked in, Lucy sat on her bed with Damien's laptop open. She saw a folder named: Family Trust Overview.
Her eyes skimmed the contents and it was exactly as Mr. William Roth had said. Damien had placed the house, some land assets and 22% of his company shares into a family trust that was meant to shield the estate from legal entanglement. Eleanor was listed as "temporary executor."
Lucy glanced over the file again and again. Damien may have had plans to remove Eleanor as the temporary executor but he never did.
And now, that mistake had turned into a weapon that could be used against her and her children.