him.
“No surprises involving secret marriages.”
“No.”
“Good.”
“He never signed the final paternity acknowledgment.”
I frowned.
“So the trust cannot be funded.”
“Correct.”
“What happens if he never signs?”
“Paternity can be established through legal process if you choose.”
“I know he’s Mia’s father.”
“The trust needs proof.”
I looked at Mia through the glass wall in the family room where the childcare worker was reading her a cloth book.
“Do I have to pursue the money?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
“Can it stay in escrow?”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“Years, potentially.”
“Then leave it.”
Victoria looked surprised.
“You don’t want the settlement for Mia?”
“I don’t want to make a legal decision today because a number sounds large.”
Good.
Mine.
Not theirs.
Alessandro nodded.
No argument.
I appreciated that more than any offer of help.
Victoria stayed in New York for a week.
She told Isabella the
