PART 3
The Secret Behind Roman’s Family Trust Changed What I Believed About Our Marriage—but It Did Not Decide Whether I Would Stay
I did not call Roman immediately.
That surprised me.
Months earlier, I would have.
I would have handed him the problem.
Roman understood contracts.
Roman understood family politics.
Roman understood the Carter world.
But that Christmas morning, sitting at my sister’s dining table with one hand resting on the curve of my stomach, I realized something quietly important.
The document involved me.
My marriage.
My future.
My daughter’s future.
I did not need Roman’s permission to understand it.
“Tessa.”
She looked up.
“I need a lawyer.”
“You have lawyers.”
“Roman has lawyers.”
“Right.”
“I want my own.”
Tessa smiled slightly.
“That might be the healthiest sentence you’ve said all week.”
By noon on December twenty-sixth, I was sitting across from Eleanor Walsh.
Eleanor had been recommended by Ben’s uncle, who described her as “the kind of attorney who makes wealthy men suddenly remember how calendars work.”
She was fifty-eight, silver-haired, composed, and unimpressed by surnames.
She reviewed the documents without reacting.
That calmed me.
Finally, she removed her glasses.
“This is complicated.”
“I noticed.”
“But not mysterious.”
“That’s disappointing.”
A small smile.
“There are old partnership agreements tied to the Carter properties. Most have been superseded.”
“Most?”
“Yes.”
She tapped the page.
“This one appears to have survived because one parcel was never formally transferred.”
“Fulton.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if I leave Roman?”
“Potentially nothing.”
I frowned.
“Potentially?”
“The clause is badly written.”
“Comforting.”
“It was written seventeen years ago by people who assumed their private arrangement would remain private.”
She studied another page.
“More importantly, your husband did not create this.”
“I know.”
“His father did.”
“Yes.”
“And your husband’s later marital trust may have unintentionally triggered questions about ownership.”
“Meaning Adrian could lose something if I stay married to Roman.”
“Possibly.”
“Or gain something if I leave.”
“Possibly.”
I sat back.
“So Adrian sent the photograph because he wanted me to walk.”
Eleanor raised a hand.
“That is a theory.”
“A good one.”
“A plausible one.”
I appreciated the distinction.
“What about Claire?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I looked toward the snowy street outside.
“Roman said she was helping him investigate Adrian.”
“That can also be true.”
I hated how often multiple things could be true at once.
Roman came to Tessa’s house that afternoon.
Only because I invited him.
He arrived alone.
No driver.
No security visible.
Tessa opened the door.
For a second, she simply stared at him.
Roman looked almost uncomfortable.
“Hello, Tessa.”
“Roman.”
“Is Savannah—”
“She is.”
Tessa stepped aside.
Then added:
“If you upset her, I will make you sit through three hours of my opinion.”
Roman nodded.
“That seems fair.”
I heard it from the living room and almost smiled.
He walked in carrying a folder.
His eyes went to my stomach first.
Then my face.
“How are you?”
“Fine.”
“The baby?”
“Also fine.”
He nodded.
Only then did he sit.
I placed the old agreement on the coffee table.
“Did you know?”
Roman looked at it.
His face changed immediately.
“Where did you get this?”
“Answer me.”
“No.”
“You’ve never seen it?”
“I knew my father had old agreements with the Bennett family.”
“Claire’s family.”
“Yes.”
“But not this clause.”
“No.”
I watched him carefully.
He looked genuinely unsettled.
“Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
I saw the old instinct return.
The Roman Carter instinct.
Identify.
Control.
Contain.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
“Don’t what?”
“Become that man.”
His expression closed slightly.
“What man?”
“The one who treats every surprise like an enemy.”
Roman sat very still.
Then, visibly, he made himself relax.
“Okay.”
I breathed out.
“Eleanor says the clause may not even be enforceable.”
“Eleanor?”
“My lawyer.”
For the briefest instant, Roman looked surprised.
Then he nodded.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“You should have your own lawyer.”
I had expected resistance.
That told me more than resistance would have.
“Who benefits if our marriage ends before the baby is born?”
Roman looked at the papers.
“Probably Adrian.”
“Why?”
“Because if the Fulton interest returns to the original Carter family structure, he has a claim.”
“And Claire?”
Roman shook his head.
“Her family sold most of their rights years ago.”
“Most.”
“Yes.”
He hesitated.
“Her father always believed my father cheated him.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You usually know everything.”
Roman looked at me.
“I usually act like I do.”
That answer stopped me.
He continued.
“My father kept complicated books.”
“That is a diplomatic way to say it.”
“Yes.”
“Why is Claire involved now?”
“Her father died last year.”
I hadn’t known.
“She inherited his remaining records.”
“And found Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Which brought her to you.”
“Yes.”
I folded my arms.
“And somewhere along the way she started needing you.”
Roman’s expression tightened.
“Yes.”
“And you liked it.”
May you like
“Yes.”
No excuses.
