Three Weeks After Lucas Was Gone, Charles Claimed the House on Maple Street

My name was typed above a line marked voting proxy, with Lucas’s signature at the bottom.

“Courtney’s stock options?” I asked.

“Tied to Charles’s shares,” Samantha said.

“They’re worth nothing now.”

She let a minute pass.

Then she set her pen down flat.

“You can pursue maximum punitive damages,” she said.

“That would bankrupt his personal estate.