“It’s terrible.”
“I know. I made it.”
She laughed, and the sound startled them both.
It was the first uncomplicated laugh of the night.
Julian leaned against the railing beside her.
“I canceled the honeymoon.”
“Good.”
“It was supposed to be three weeks in Italy.”
“We can go somewhere less dramatic.”
“Somewhere with no balconies?”
“And no rivers.”
He looked at her. “Somewhere with a small house and a garden.”
“You hate gardening.”
“I hate gardening here.”
She glanced across the grounds, where clipped hedges and marble statues stood in perfect, joyless rows.
“What will happen to this place?”
“The board will sell the estate. The relief fund will take the proceeds.”
Elena nodded.
“Your father would have liked that.”
“I think he wanted the house opened.”
“To whom?”
“To the people who had been locked out of it.”
Marian appeared at the balcony entrance.
“The judge has signed the emergency order,” she said. “The accounts are frozen. The company is protected from immediate liquidation. The employees will be paid.”
Julian released a long breath.
“Thank you.”
Marian looked at Elena. “There is one more document.”
She handed Elena a sealed envelope.
Elena recognized the handwriting immediately. It was not Daniel’s.
It belonged to Victoria.
