CHAPTER 13: The Woman Who Packed Too Soon

Celeste had already chosen curtains for the east bedroom. Eleanor knew because the housekeeper had cried while admitting it the night before.
She had also ordered silver stationery embossed with a version of the Vale crest that did not include the Hart branch. She had asked which paintings were insured. She had measured a dead man's library before his mother chose flowers for the service.
Now those small vanities gathered around her like witnesses.
One of the dark-coated attorneys approached her with a voice so polite it could have frozen water.
'Ms. Marrow, you are instructed not to contact household staff, remove property, access electronic files, or approach Vale House pending review.'
Celeste laughed once. It failed halfway through.
'You cannot ban me from a house I was invited into.'
Eleanor turned from the coffin. 'An invitation is not a deed.'
The line landed softly, which made it worse.
Celeste's eyes filled at last, but the tears came too late and aimed in the wrong direction. They were not for Adrian. They were for the future she had unpacked before owning it.