My hands started shaking.

Delia opened her briefcase.

Then she placed a certified copy of the deed on the kitchen table.

Dad had transferred the house to me months before his death.

Recorded.

Completed.

Outside probate.

Odette had been threatening me over property that was never part of the estate.

But there was more.

Delia had also preserved emails Dad sent after Preston privately asked whether he could “eventually take over” the property.

Dad’s answer had been unmistakable.

No. Marguerite keeps the house. Do not ask me again.

The next morning, everyone gathered for the estate meeting.

Rowan looked confident.

Preston sat beside Odette.

Then Delia explained that the house was not available for distribution because Dad had already transferred it during his lifetime.

Odette went pale.

Preston looked at Rowan.

Rowan looked away.

Then Delia produced the emails.

That ended the argument.

Odette finally snapped.

“You let me stand there yesterday knowing all this?”

I looked at her.

“You came to my father’s house two weeks after his funeral and told me to pack.”

She had no answer.

Dad’s will divided other assets fairly.

Rowan received what Dad intended.

Preston received nothing.

Neither did Odette.

That afternoon, I returned to the garden and trimmed the white roses.

I kept every single bush.

Especially the one Odette had promised to tear out.