You read the phrase with disgust.
Succession narrative.
That is what they called your erasure.
The emails are clinical, almost bored.
They discuss making you appear emotionally erratic.
They discuss encouraging you to make a scene in front of “credible witnesses.”
They discuss using your age, grief, and occasional forgetfulness as leverage.
One email from Ethan makes your blood turn cold.
The old lady won’t step down unless she’s cornered. Valerie needs to stop thinking of her as Grandma and start thinking of her as the asset blocker.
Asset blocker.
Not mother.
Not elder.
Not woman.
Not human.
Asset blocker.
You print that email and place it in the same cedar box as the trust clause.
Some truths are too ugly to leave floating in a screen.
Two weeks later, the board meeting is held.
You attend with a split lip that has mostly healed, new glasses, a navy suit, and Lucy’s pearl earrings.
Valerie is there with Ethan.
