The dining room of the Bellevue mansion always smelled faintly of dried lavender, lemon wax, and an unearned superiority that my mother, Beatrice, wore like heirloom jewelry.

The sunlight broke over Lake Washington in pale, watery shades of blue and gold.

Down in the kitchen, the scent of cinnamon French toast filled the air. Lily sat at the breakfast bar in her yellow flannel pajamas, her hair gathered in two messy buns, her little legs swinging against the oak stools. Beside her plate sat her school binder, and resting beside it was the scrapbook.

She hadn't thrown it away. She had taken a pink highlighter and carefully drawn a border around the brown gravy stain on the cover, turning it into a little garden stone at the base of the cherry tree.

"Look, Mommy," she said, pointing with a syrup-sticky finger as I set down two glasses of orange juice. "I fixed the path. Now the tree has a little rock wall."

My throat tightened with an ache so fierce it made my eyes sting. "You did a beautiful job, sweet girl."

"Mommy?" Lily looked up, her large hazel eyes searching mine with that brutal, piercing honesty children possess. "Is Grandma mad at me because I’m not fancy like Brielle?"

I pulled a stool beside her, took both of her small hands in mine, and looked directly into her eyes. "Listen to me, Lily. Look right at me. Your worth in this world has nothing to do with what Grandma thinks. You are kind, you are brilliant, you are creative, and you have a heart that is too big for people who only care about shiny things. Grandma is a very small, very foolish woman. Do you understand me?"

She nodded slowly, a faint smile touching her lips. "Can we go to the science center after school?"

"We can do whatever you want," I said.

At 7:45 AM, my phone rang through the kitchen intercom. The caller ID flashed: JOCELYN.

I pressed the speaker button. "Speak."

"Vivian!" Jocelyn’s voice was high-pitched, vibrating with an irritating mix of manufactured outrage and panic. "What the hell is going on with the corporate cards? I was at the Shell station on 8th getting gas for the school run and the card declined! Then I tried the grocery card for the twins' lunches and that declined too! Did your automated billing glitch or something?"

I leaned back against the counter, sipping my black coffee. "There was no glitch, Jocelyn."

"Well, then what happened? The cashier looked at me like I was a criminal! I had to use my personal debit card, and Grant says we have zero cash cushion this week!"

"The authorized user privileges on the corporate expense lines were canceled at twelve-thirty this morning," I said evenly.

A pause. A sharp intake of breath.

"You canceled them? Why?"

"Because those cards were provided for emergency family expenses, Jocelyn, not for financing your lifestyle while you mock my daughter at my mother’s dinner table."

"Are you seriously still whining about that?" Jocelyn scoffed, her voice shifting instantly from panic to venom. "It was a joke, Vivian! Mom was stressed! She’s seventy-two years old, and Lily was hovering around her like a lost puppy with that ridiculous notebook! You are blowing an innocent comment completely out of proportion because you've always had an inferiority complex!"

"Is that what you think?"

"Yes! That’s exactly what I think! You think because you sit at home and move numbers on spreadsheets that you're the queen of the family! Well, newsflash: Mom called me in tears at two in the morning! She said you threatened her! She wants you to come over to the Bellevue house at noon today and apologize to her in person!"

"Oh, I'll be there at noon," I said quietly.

"Good. And bring the updated corporate cards with you. Grant has a dinner with potential investors tonight at Daniel’s Broiler, and he needs the entertainment line active."

"Tell Grant to bring his checkbook," I said.

"Vivian—"

I tapped the screen, severing the call.

I turned to my computer. A notification from Marcus Hale had just pinged my inbox.

ATTACHMENT: Formal Notice of Lease Termination and Demand for Immediate Vacation of Premises – 1404 Lake Washington Blvd NE, Bellevue, WA.

Beneath the document was a second attachment: a formal subpoena request for all banking records associated with Aegis Capital Ventures and Bradley Vance Mortgage Brokerage.