“For years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
That question should not have been difficult.
But for a moment, I thought about how impossible it is to prove affection to someone determined to convert it into strategy.
“Because I loved talking to him.”
Gerald looked unconvinced.
I did not care.
He moved on.
When it was Diane’s turn to question Ryan, the room changed.
Not dramatically.
Diane did not raise her voice.
She rarely did.
She opened a thin folder, not the thick one.
“Ryan, you testified that Emma’s relationship with your grandfather was calculated.”
“Yes.”
“And you described her regular phone contact as part of that calculation.”
“Yes.”
“How many times did you speak to your grandfather during the final three years of his life?”
Ryan shifted.
“I don’t remember exactly.”
Diane looked at the court reporter, then back at him.
“Would you say more than twenty?”
“I don’t know.”
“More than ten?”
“I said I don’t remember.”
Diane took out a sheet.
“We obtained phone records.”
Gerald adjusted his glasses.
Ryan looked up.
Diane placed the page in front of him.
“Seven calls.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“All seven occurred on holidays or your grandfather’s birthday. None lasted longer than four minutes. Does that refresh your memory?”
“I was busy.”
“I didn’t ask why. I asked whether the record refreshes your memory.”
Ryan looked at the paper.
“Yes.”
Diane picked up another document.
“Did you attend your grandfather’s seventy-ninth birthday dinner?”
“I had work.”
“So no?”
“No.”
“Did you visit him during his final hospital admission?”
“I didn’t know it was that serious.”
“Did anyone prevent you from visiting?”
“No.”
“Did Emma?”
“No.”
“Did she ever tell you not to call him?”
“No.”
“Did she block your phone number from his phone?”
Gerald sighed.
“Diane.”
She didn’t look at him.
“I’m clarifying the allegation of exclusion.”
Ryan answered.
“No.”
“Did she prevent you from attending family events?”
“No.”
“Did she ask your grandfather not to speak to you?”
“Not that I know of.”
Diane let the silence rest.
Then she opened a different folder.
I recognized the cream-colored paper before she said what it was.
Grandpa’s letter.
My stomach tightened.
Not because I feared what it said.
Because I hated seeing his handwriting treated like evidence.
“Have you read the letter your grandfather attached to his estate instructions?”
Ryan looked at it.
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Please describe, in your own words, why your grandfather said he made the distribution he did.”
Ryan’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But I knew him.
He had spent his whole life answering quickly.
Speed was one of the ways he created authority.
That morning, he had no fast answer.
Ten seconds passed.
Then fifteen.
Gerald shifted in his chair.
Ryan looked toward the window.
“He said she worked hard.”
Diane waited.
Ryan did not add anything.
“He said she worked hard,” Diane repeated.
“Yes.”
“Is that everything you remember?”
“He thought she was responsible.”
“And?”
Ryan’s mouth tightened.
“I don’t know.”
Diane reached for the letter.
“Would reading it help?”
“I’ve read it.”
“Then tell me what your grandfather wrote about Emma manipulating him.”
Ryan looked at her.
“He didn’t use that word.”
“What word did he use?”
“He didn’t say that.”
“Did he write that Emma pressured him?”
“No.”
“Did he write that she isolated him?”
“No.”
“Did he write that she asked for the trust?”
“No.”
“Did he write that he believed the family expected an equal distribution?”
Ryan’s voice got quieter.
“No.”
Diane closed the folder.
“Did your grandfather write that he had watched Emma build something from nothing?”
“Yes.”
“That he believed assets placed in her hands would be maintained and grown?”
Ryan did not answer immediately.
“Yes.”
“That he reached this decision deliberately?”
“Yes.”
Diane nodded.
Then she pulled out one last document.
It was not Grandpa’s letter.
It was Dad’s text.
Ryan saw it before she asked the question.
His entire posture changed.
His shoulders moved back.
His hands came together.
“Before filing this lawsuit,” Diane said, “did you discuss settlement money with your father?”
Gerald leaned forward.
“Be careful with the wording.”
Diane remained calm.
“Did you discuss with your father your expectation that Emma might pay you rather than defend the case?”
Ryan looked at Gerald.