Chapter 61 - The Briefcase With No Logo
Margaret Ashford flew in for a meeting with the trustees. She carried a worn brown briefcase and wore walking shoes beneath her tailored trousers. Adrian had arranged a private suite, but she asked to meet at Noah's Vermont office instead.
“I don't work out a child's future in a hotel,” she said, as if the matter required no explanation.
Margaret listened to Adrian and Vanessa separately, asked for the accounting, and reviewed the instrument's deadlock provisions. She did not pretend she could wave away the need for court involvement.
“Your late sister named me because she didn't want the largest voice in the room to be the last one heard,” she told Adrian.
He didn't respond.
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Then Margaret asked both trustees to state one thing they'd done that had made Leo's life harder. Vanessa admitted using guardianship concerns as leverage in a corporate fight. Adrian admitted delegating Leo's everyday care and treating questions about the trust as personal attacks.
Neither confession absolved them. But both were entered into minutes without anyone trying to edit the adjectives afterward.
