Emilia placed a certified document on the kitchen island.

Three weeks earlier, the private family trust my father had established years ago had purchased Landen’s commercial note at a heavy discount, after the lender flagged serious irregularities in his company’s records.

The transaction had been handled through outside counsel, and Landen had no idea who the actual buyer was.

The money I’d authorized the previous evening hadn’t erased his obligation. It had completed the trust’s purchase of control over it.

Laurel stared at Emilia, her face pale. “What exactly does that mean?”

I answered her quietly, looking directly at Landen. “It means Landen still owes every single dollar of that debt. The only difference is that now he owes it to a trust established for me and Cedric.”