“Protection for whom?”

He shut his eyes. “I was desperate.”

“Desperation explains fear,” she said. “It doesn’t explain turning your mother into a legal obstacle.”

He confessed that Garrick had known everything about his debts. When the rumors about the ticket started, the lawyer assured him Abigail would hand over the money anyway — they simply had to move before anyone else got legal advice in front of her.

“I wasn’t going to leave you with nothing,” Spencer insisted. “I just wanted to secure a fair portion.”

“A portion that wasn’t yours to take.”