Chapter 48: What the Will Left Behind

Lunch had come and gone before Alexander finally brought up Augustus Vance.

More specifically, the problem Augustus Vance had left behind.

Alexander and his father remained at the dining table while the household staff cleared away the last of the dishes.

"I heard from our lawyer."

Alejandro sighed.

"That sentence has never introduced anything pleasant."

"It’s about Grandpa’s trust."

That changed his expression.

"Ah."

With the marriage to Dominic definitively off, the question remained: what would happen to the family shares and personal assets Augustus had placed in trust years earlier?

The marriage had been one path to early distribution.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been the only one.

"The lawyer finished reviewing the trust with the trustee," Alexander said. "I’m not losing anything."

Alejandro’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

"But?"

Alexander almost smiled.

Of course his father knew there was a but.

"But I’m not getting it anytime soon either."

"How long?"

"Until I’m forty."

Alejandro stared at him.

Then he slowly shook his head.

"That sounds like my father."

"You don’t seem surprised."

"I’m surprised he gave you an alternative at all."

"Apparently, even Grandpa realized he couldn’t control me forever."

"No." Alejandro reached for his water. "Your grandfather probably assumed that if you were stubborn enough to wait until forty, you’d earned the right to ignore him."

That actually made Alexander laugh.

"So that’s it?" Alejandro asked. "No marriage to Dominic, no early distribution?"

"Essentially."

"And you keep everything eventually?"

"Assuming I don’t manage to die before then and complicate matters for everyone, yes."

"Don’t."

Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Joke about dying."

"Dad."

"I’m old. I’m allowed to be unreasonable about these things."

"You’re retired, remember? Completely different."

Alejandro gave him a look.

Alexander smiled and dropped the matter.

For all the complications Augustus had created, he’d stopped short of making Dominic Sebastian the only possible road to Alexander’s inheritance.

He could find another spouse with similar qualifications to fast-track the trust fund’s release.

Or he only had to wait.

Alexander could live with that.

Apparently, his grandfather’s control came with an expiration date.

"I never thought he was heartless," Alexander said after a moment.

"No."

Alejandro’s gaze wandered toward the windows.

"Just convinced he knew better than everyone else."

Alexander didn’t need to ask which part of that history his father meant.

Rosalie.

Augustus had spent decades believing Alejandro’s decision to marry her without his blessing had eventually destroyed their family.

He’d been wrong.

Ben’s death had destroyed something.

Grief had done the rest.

But Augustus had died before anyone could convince him there was a difference.

Alejandro remained unusually quiet.

Alexander watched him.

"Dad?"

"I may have found your mother."

Alexander stopped breathing.

Everything they’d just discussed disappeared.

"What?"

"A private investigator contacted me three days ago."

"You hired another investigator?"

"I never stopped."

Of course he hadn’t.

Alejandro had retired earlier than necessary, partly because he’d wanted enough time to repair what remained of his marriage.

Then Rosalie left.

Instead of starting another life, Alejandro stayed in the ancestral home, surrounded by the one they’d once shared.

Waiting.

"What did the investigator find?"

"A woman matching her description."

"Where?"

Alejandro named a town.

Alexander frowned. It wasn’t impossibly far.

Somehow, that made it worse.

"How certain is he?"

"Not enough to promise me anything."

"Dad."

"He has photographs."

Alexander’s expression changed.

"You saw them?"

"Yes."

"And?"

Alejandro looked down at his hands.

"I think it’s her."

Something about the way he said it unsettled Alexander.

"Think?"

"She’s older."

"Obviously."

"That’s not what I mean."

Alexander waited.

His father swallowed.

"She doesn’t look well."

Any irritation Alexander had been holding disappeared.

"How unwell?"

"I don’t know."

"Did the investigator speak to her?"

"No. I told him not to."

"Why?"

"Because if it isn’t Rosalie, I don’t want some stranger frightening an innocent woman. And if it is..."

His father stopped.

"If it is?"

Alejandro looked toward the garden.

"I didn’t know whether she wanted to be found."

That silenced Alexander.

For years, he’d imagined his mother’s absence in ways he rarely admitted.

Sometimes she was still angry.

Sometimes she was ashamed.

Sometimes she’d simply discovered that life was easier without either of them and decided never to return.

He’d been furious with her.

He’d missed her.

Then he’d been furious with himself for missing her.

Eventually, Alexander had done what he did with most things he couldn’t fix.

He’d put it somewhere he didn’t have to look at every day.

His father hadn’t.

"How long has she been there?"

"The investigator doesn’t know yet. Long enough that several people recognize her."

"Is she alone?"

"I don’t know."

"Does she have another family?"

"I don’t know."

"Dad."

"I only received the report three days ago."

Alexander pushed his chair back and walked toward the window.

Outside, sunlight stretched across the property Rosalie had once called home.

His mother had walked away from it all.

For years, Alexander had convinced himself that if she could live with that decision, so could he.

Apparently, he’d never considered what would happen if she suddenly came back within reach.

"You want to go," Alexander said.

It wasn’t a question.

Alejandro didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

"Then we’ll go."

His father looked at him.

"Alex."

"I’ll take you."

"You don’t have to."

"I know."

"What if she doesn’t want to see us?"

Alexander considered it.

"Then we’ll leave."

"And if she’s still angry?"

"Then she can be angry."

"At you?"

His jaw tightened.

"That would hardly be new."

Alexander regretted it immediately.

"Dad."

"I don’t know why she left. I don’t know why she stayed gone, and I’m not going to pretend what happened after Ben died didn’t hurt."

Alejandro lowered his gaze.

"But if she’s sick..."

Alexander stopped.

Whatever resentment remained couldn’t quite finish that sentence for him.

Finally, he said, "I want to know."

"So do I."

"Then that’s enough."

Alejandro remained quiet for several seconds.

"When?"

"Give the investigator time to confirm it’s really her."

"And afterward?"

Alexander’s gaze wandered toward the old family photographs displayed across the room.

Rosalie existed in so many of them.

Beside Alejandro, Ben, and himself.

No picture of Rosalie with Augustus was on display.

"Afterward, we go see her."

Alejandro looked away.

His phone vibrated against the table.

Both men looked at it.

The investigator.

Alexander reached for the phone.

A new message waited on the screen.

He read it once.

Then again.

Alejandro stood.

"What is it?"

Alexander slowly looked at his father.

"It’s her."