Chapter 18 - The Hearing
The family court hearing happened three months later.
Roman sat beside Nora, not across from her.
That mattered.
Helena had once used grief to make Nora sign papers she didn’t understand. Now every page was read aloud. Every decision was explained. Nora asked questions until she was satisfied.
The judge terminated Helena’s emergency guardianship rights permanently.
Sophie’s trust was placed under an independent professional trustee until adulthood. Roman and Nora remained her parents and decision-makers.
Caleb received equal protection under Elias’s descendant fund. Roman made sure the boy’s mother had independent counsel.
Then Nora’s attorney stood.
“One additional request, Your Honor.”
Roman looked at Nora.
She slid a proposed order toward him.
SOPHIE CALDER-CARTER.
Roman blinked. Carter was Nora’s chosen surname, adopted after learning how many identities Helena had manipulated.
Nora said quietly, “She shouldn’t have to carry only one family’s mistakes.”
Roman smiled for the first time that day.
“Agreed.”
Outside court, reporters shouted questions.
Roman ignored them.
Sophie held one of his hands and one of Nora’s.
“Are we a family again?” she asked.
Nora and Roman exchanged a look.
Roman crouched. “We never stopped being your family.”
“Do you live together?”
“Not yet,” Nora said.
Sophie considered that.
“Can you at least have pizza together?”
Roman laughed. “That seems legally possible.”
His phone buzzed.
A message from Brooks.
One last asset had been found inside Northstar Holdings.
A property deed.
Roman opened it.
Helena and Marco had secretly bought the building where Nora’s childhood home once stood.
May you like
Under the deed was a note in Helena’s handwriting.
FOR NORA — WHEN ALL OF THIS IS OVER.
