Once it became clear there would be no warm reunion, Mike moved quickly to the real reason for his visit. He began with excuses, talking in circles about how complicated life had been and how circumstances had kept him away. He offered condolences for Eleanor’s death. He praised the children for turning out so well. He even tried a weak smile.
Larissa stood with her arms folded and said nothing.
At last Mike admitted he was in serious financial trouble. He talked about creditors, losing his job, and debts he could no longer manage. Then he asked, carefully but plainly, whether they could help him financially.
He seemed to think he might still have some claim to part of the property. In fact, he spoke with the confidence of a man who had clearly gotten advice from a cheap lawyer before showing up.
Larissa listened without interrupting. Then she turned, went to her room, and came back with a thick file folder. She set it down on the coffee table with a flat thud.
“Go ahead,” she said. “Open it.”
On top was Eleanor’s properly executed will, leaving the house and all related property to Larissa and Daniel in equal shares. “My mother and father were legally married under a clear separate-property arrangement,” Larissa said in the calm, precise tone of an attorney.
She explained, point by point, that he had no legal connection whatsoever to Eleanor’s estate. Mike reddened and tried to object. He brought up the money Eleanor had once gotten from selling her condo, hoping to latch onto that somehow.
But Larissa’s voice turned hard. “She sold that condo because you stopped paying child support,” she said. Mike slumped lower. Then his daughter moved, methodically and without mercy, to the financial records Eleanor had kept for all 18 years…
