“It’s cold.”
“No. You still know how to use her.”
“I was her husband.”
“You were her project.”
That hit harder than gold digger because part of me knew it was true.
“I was her husband.”
But under the shame, one thought kept pushing forward.
The will.
***
The next morning, I sat across from Mr. Carson, Evie’s lawyer, downtown.
“The house goes to Claire,” he said.
I sat forward. “That’s not possible.”
“It is, Damon. It’s stated in her will.”
“I was her husband.”
“The house goes to Claire.”
“And you signed an agreement before the marriage.”
“What about her savings?”
“Her liquid assets go to the church’s community charity.”
My throat tightened. “She left me nothing?”
Mr. Carson adjusted his glasses. “She left you one personal item.”
“A check?”
“A shoebox.”
“She left me nothing?”
He placed an old cardboard box on the desk. My name sat across the lid in Evie’s careful handwriting.
I stared at it. “This is all?”
“This is what she asked me to give you.”