“Jasper would have moved heaven and earth to protect his daughter,” Vivian said as she paced in the parlor. “I think you’re being very selfish by denying Mimi a proper roof over her head and the protection of his name. Those were the only things he wrote in his will. His only dying requests.”

Gwen remained seated at her dining table with the bonsai tree before her, pretending a calm she did not feel as she clipped the miniature tree to maintain its dwarfed shape.

“If Jasper wanted Mimi to have his name, he could have divorced me and married you,” Gwen said. “He didn’t.”

“He couldn’t afford to,” Vivian snapped. “We all know why he stayed married to you.”

The taunt hurt because it was true.

Vivian continued pacing, her gaze traveling over the parlor with covetous eyes. “Are you so selfish that even after he’s dead, you can’t give Jasper his last request? His wishes were clear. The doctor and three other men watched him write that will.”

Gwen hadn’t. In the final days before Jasper died, she’d cleared out of the home they shared and allowed Vivian to move in. It was Vivian who was at his bedside when Jasper died. Gwen didn’t doubt the validity of the handwritten will, for it was perfectly in keeping with Jasper’s desire to give everything he had to the woman and child he loved so desperately.

But Jasper didn’t have the authority to give this house away. He might have given his heart to Vivian, but he couldn’t give her Gwen’s house. Gwen had written Vivian a large settlement check in recognition of Jasper’s intention to see her cared for but had kept the house.

Gwen’s mistake was that she’d done it without benefit of a lawyer. Her husband’s extravagant love for another woman was an embarrassment she didn’t want aired before attorneys, and she assumed the fat settlement would be enough to make Vivian go away.

She was wrong. There was no signed agreement that by accepting the money, Vivian would disavow ownership of the house. Three months ago Vivian had started making demands, claiming that the settlement money was for Vivian, but that Jasper had wanted Mimi to have the house.

“Under no circumstances will I ever leave this house,” Gwen said.

“I’ll take you to court,” Vivian replied. “The will is valid. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t fight in Mimi’s best interest?”