CHAPTER 7: The Will Beneath the Flowers

The second shock came from the roses.
Before anyone could leave, Arthur's attorney asked the groundskeeper to lift the white arrangement from the coffin lid. Beneath it, sealed in a waterproof envelope, was a copy of Daniel's final instruction to the estate trustee.
Mara made a sound so small only Lydia heard it.
It was not sorrow.
It was recognition.
Daniel had known she would control the funeral. He had known she would choose the flowers, the music, the guest list, the photographs, the angle of her grief. So he had hidden the truth inside the one object she would insist on placing nearest his body.
Arthur broke the seal.
Lydia remembered arguing with Daniel about those roses when he was alive. He hated white arrangements. He said they made death look clean. Now she understood why he had requested them himself.
The attorney read just enough for the family to understand.
Daniel had revoked Mara's control over the company shares. He had placed his estate under an emergency trust. He had named Lily as his daughter and heir. He had named Lydia as guardian of the child's inheritance.
Mara stared at the coffin.
Her empire had been lying under flowers she paid for.
Arthur's jaw tightened. His grandson had not merely left a will. He had set a trap from inside his own fear.