Page 91 of Fight Or Flight

Chelsea stood, looking like a completely different person. She held her purse by the handles and squared her shoulders. “Showtime.”

Natalie wiped the smile off her face as they followed the assistant down the hall. The moment they walked in the room, all chatter ended, and every pair of eyes swung their way.

But one set of dark-blue eyes was notably missing.

Natalie shook off her disappointment and took in the faces around the table. Victor sat next to his lawyer, stone faced and silent with a glare that seemed to come easily to him. Anne was across from him with her own lawyer and a vicious scowl on her elegant features. And Emily sat alone, closest to the door, looking like a bunny waiting to make a run for it at the first sign of a hungry wolf.

Natalie walked directly to her first, put out her hand. “You must be Emily. I’m your sister, Natalie.”

Emily’s jaw dropped, and her eyes shot to Anne, who looked away. She turned back and shook Natalie’s hand silently.

“And this is Chelsea, our other sister.”

“Hi,” Emily finally said. Her brows knitted together as she shook Chelsea’s hand, then she ducked her head away.

Natalie made her way into the room, nodding at Victor as she passed by, then at Anne. She took the empty chair at the head of the table and sat. Chelsea sat next to her, then leaned back, crossed her legs, and glared, just as rehearsed.

“Are we still waiting on Ethan?” Natalie asked Speeler.

“No. I didn’t invite him to attend. This seems like a family matter.”

Natalie nodded as she consciously made sure her features were neutral.

“Get on with it, Speeler,” Anne spat. Her lawyer rested his hand on her forearm, and she sat back.

“My clients have an offer for you,” Speeler said, looking at Emily.

Emily raised a finger to point at her chest, as if to ask whether he really meant her. Speeler nodded.

“We already have an offer they all accepted,” Anne said. “What the hell is this all about?”

Natalie cleared her throat. She’d been worried she’d get nervous near Anne in the meeting, but she was way too angry to care what Anne thought. “Wehadan offer that was agreeable, but that is no longer the case.”

“She signed it,” Anne said, jerking a thumb at Chelsea. “So did Ethan Pierce. It was a done deal.”

“I didn’t sign it. And I won’t. Consider that entire offer void.”

Anne seethed for a split second, then tried to change tactics. She drew her brows together and tipped her chin down, trying to make herself look like an abused little orphan. “You just want more money?”

Natalie shook her head, then looked to Speeler.

He opened the folder in front of him and took out four copies of a document. He stood and passed them out to Natalie, Chelsea, Victor, and Emily, then passed by Anne and sat back in his seat.

“Where’s mine?” Anne asked, her victim charade faltering.

“This offer doesn’t involve you. My clients are no longer interested in selling the property, and they are prepared to fight your contest in court.”

“Then what is this all about?” she asked, gesturing to the paper in Emily’s hand.

“We’d prefer to settle now, so we can all move on from this. Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted her family fighting.”

He waited silently for everyone to read through the document. Natalie watched Victor and Emily closely. She could tell the exact moment when they had got to the point.

Victor’s eyebrows rose fractionally, then he passed the document to his lawyer without a word.

Emily gasped, looking up with eyes the size of bus tires. “You’re including me in the inheritance?” she asked.

“What?!” Anne reached out and snatched the paper from Emily’s hands, scanned it quickly, and handed it to her lawyer.

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