"She didn't hide herself from you," Walter said quietly. "You simply never looked."
Derek flinched like the words had hit harder than a shout would have.
Vanessa set her tablet down with careful precision, voice bright and brittle. "Okay. This is unexpected, but it doesn't change the business at hand. The divorce is signed. The presentation still happens. Let's everyone stay calm."
Nobody answered her. For once, Vanessa wasn't the center of the room, and she clearly didn't know what to do with that.
"Grandfather," I said quietly. "Please don't."
"Don't what, Claire?"
"Don't turn this into a spectacle."
Something shifted behind his eyes — the protective instinct warring with sixty years of discipline. He'd raised me after my parents died. There were still moments the grandfather in him moved faster than the chairman.
"The papers still require notarization," he said.
"Then notarize them," Derek said.
Walter looked at me instead. "Claire?"
