Remember Me? (Book 1) COMPLETED

Legal Advice

KATHERINE

After I told Matthew the whirlwind of information I'd learned over the past twenty-four hours, he let out a long whistle.

"That's a lot to handle, Katherine," he said. Something shuffled on his end. "Do you know the name of your mother's lawyer?"

"Mr. Howard," I answered. "Now she has someone else for the car accident, but Mr. Howard was the one she had before."

"Any reason why she'd change?"

I chewed on my lip. "I don't know. It could have something to do with what she did with my shares in Wayward Publishing."

Matthew sighed. "Give me a few hours to get in contact with Mr. Howard. If I get any information, I'll send it your way."

I sank into the large chair behind my desk, relief flooding over me. "Thank you, Matthew. I really appreciate it."

He let out a chuckle. "Of course, Katherine. Anything for a friend."

I perked up at his words. "Speaking of friend, Matthew, I know you said you'd stop by today to come get me and Erland, but I'm already putting so much stress on you with all this legal stuff and I really can't—"

"Don't be silly, Katherine."

I blinked. "Silly? What do you mean?"

"I know what you were about to say, and you aren't going to find someplace else to stay. You aren't a burden."

His words warmed my numb hands, and I couldn't help but smile. "I really don't know how to thank you, Matthew."

Matthew let out a laugh. "You don't need to. Let's talk about this later. I have an appointment in a few minutes."

With that, I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone. I leaned back in the chair, staring out at the surprisingly warm office. From what I saw of Nick's office—cold granite and dark wood—I expected mine to be much the same. But aside from the formal font that scribbled out my name on the plaque by the door, the desk was a warm redwood, with touches of pink in the tulips on the counter and yellow in the curtains that filtered the sun's rays.

I set about exploring the room. As I ran my fingers along the spines of the books behind my desk, I couldn't help but wonder—had everything been placed here for me? How could Nick have known that I would come? A cold feeling shot up my spine as I wondered how Victoria might have felt.

If she was fighting me for ownership of my shares, then it would be no wonder if she was absolutely livid.

A though struck me and I turned on the monitor at the desk. As the desktop loaded, I logged into my email.

After Nick dumped me, my inbox had been flooded with condolences, and I only held out for a year before switching to a new email. If Nick had reached out to me during that time, surely the lawyer's email would be there as well.

I looked up "Howard" and, sure enough, there sat a string of emails from a Mr. Lawrence Howard. My answers were always borderline incoherent, but he responded with a formal tone regardless.

At the end of the emails, he detailed the contract he'd worked out with my mother, Nicholas, and Victoria. When I downloaded the document, my blood went cold when I saw—plain as the venom in Victoria's smile—my signature on the bottom of the page. Along with a note:

I can't imagine what Nick sees in me now that he couldn't see before. He left me because I could never give him what he wanted. I certainly can't do it now—I'm not the person he thinks I am.

I accept the terms. It would be best if I didn't have to wait four years to get rid of Nick and Victoria at all, but if that's what they want, I'll take it. Four years or tomorrow—what's the difference if I'm never going to see them again?