She sat back down and turned to speak sweetly to the lawyer. “John. Surely you can understand that there’s a problem here. If I had known it was going to turn out like this, I would have brought my own lawyers.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” Mr. Wainwright replied, matter-of-factly. “The will is valid.”
She gave him an almost flirtatious sidelong glance, as if she could charm him into shifting things in her favor. But he remained silent, not swayed in the least.
“Did he tell you why?” she asked, her cheeks flushing red with frustration. “Did he explain why he would disinherit his own children for the sake of a child he never met?”
“He didn’t disinherit them,” John informed her. “He left them three million pounds each and the London house.”
Mrs. Wilson exhaled sharply and laid a hand on her chest, as if she’d been insulted.
“That was pocket change to him,” Connor informed everyone. “This winery is worth way more than that.”
I was more than a little curious to know how much it was worth, exactly, but I didn’t dare ask the question. It would be best, for the time being, to sit quietly and keep my mouth shut.
Connor sat back down. “We’re going to fight this.”
“I suspected as much,” Mr. Wainwright said.
Sloane waved her hand frantically. “Wait a second. I’m sure this can be cleared up quite easily. It’s my understanding that there are laws in Italy about what children must inherit. My husband looked into it before I got on the plane. He said it was called forced heirship, or something like that, and that we have to get at least sixty-six percent of his property in equal shares.” Sloane pointed at me. “She’s not an heir. She’s illegitimate.”
I was beginning to hate the sound of that word.
“That is true,” Mr. Wainwright replied. “The Italian Civil Code protects close family members, but there was an EU law passed in 2015 that allowed your father, as a British national, to state that the laws of his own country would apply to his will. In the UK, a person is allowed testamentary freedom, meaning that he can do whatever he pleases with the assets of his estate. He could have left everything to charity if he wanted to.”
Connor held out a hand, gesturing toward me. “Behold our charity case.”
“Excuse me?” I said.
Maria took hold of my hand under the table and squeezed it. I met her gaze, and she shook her head at me.
“What I don’t understand,” Connor said to me, “is what happened between my father and your mother. Was she blackmailing him? Or were you?” His eyes bored into mine.
“Of course not!” I replied. “I never spoke to him once in my life!”
“Then how are we supposed to accept this?” Connor asked. “We never heard of a woman he knocked up thirty years ago. What was her name?”
“Lillian Bell,” Mr. Wainwright said.
Connor turned to Maria for clarification. “She wasn’t a part of his life, was she?”
Maria shrugged. “Not that I’m aware of.”
The lawyer spoke matter-of-factly. “According to your father, there were letters.”
Connor frowned. “Letters? What are you talking about? Love letters?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say,” Mr. Wainwright replied.
With a sudden burst of anger, Connor flung himself out of his chair, knocking it over, and strode to the window, where he stood with his hands on his hips, looking out. Everyone sat in silence, except for Sloane.
“He didn’t give the letters to you for safekeeping?” she asked. “As evidence or something?”
“Evidence concerning one’s final wishes isn’t required for the writing of a will,” Mr. Wainwright explained, doing his best, I thought, not to sound condescending.
“But he kept everything,” Sloane replied. “Didn’t he, Maria? I don’t want to use the word hoarder , but he had trouble throwing things away. Obviously, these letters must have been important to him. They must be here somewhere.”
Connor turned to face Mr. Wainwright. “What if this woman, Lillian Bell, was blackmailing him? That would be grounds for us to contest the will, wouldn’t it?”
Mr. Wainwright turned in his chair. “Yes, it would be if that were the case. But you would have to prove it.”
Connor strode forward. “If it’s not blackmail, what other grounds would be necessary to overturn it? Undue influence? Duress? Fraud?”