“Here is what I’m offering you. I’m going to give you the Condo Henry and I owned. It’s paid off, so all we will need to do is transfer the deed to you. I’m also willing to pay the property taxes on it for the next year. Since you will be downtown, I have contacted Saint Mary’s school. One of my friends works in the office and I have secured a spot for her to attend next year. If you choose to send her there, I will pay for tuition as long as she is there. The last thing I will do, is set up a college fund for her.  If she goes to college, she can use it, and if she doesn’t want to go she would have to wait until she is twenty-one to use the money.”

I laid down the paperwork to show her everything I was including in the settlement. I crossed my legs, seeing her skim the paperwork, occasionally glancing at her daughter and then me. Evelyn kept looking unsurely at me, staying close to her mother.

“You realize if I win this, I could gain a lot more. I’ve seen what he left you, Jane. We are talking about almost a million dollars,” her steeling gaze challenged me.

“Victoria, do you know what the average funeral costs for two people? Not only did I have to pay that, but had to pay his car, credit cards, and we were building a home together in Colorado,” I snapped at her. Getting mad wasn’t the way to go, so I took a deep breath. “I know he left you in a shitty situation, and for that I’m truly sorry, but you are going after money that wasn’t meant for you. If you add up the value of everything, you will get over four hundred thousand dollars. That is so much more than Henry was paying you for child support.”

She pursed her lips as she looked at the numbers. If she ended up going after the money, she would only stand to gain another hundred thousand.  This way I ensured her daughter received it and not her.  I didn’t know what kind of mother she was, and I’d hate to hear she used her daughter as a pawn.

“I’m offering you this because she doesn’t deserve to suffer.” I pointed at her daughter. “She is innocent in all of this.”

She looked at her daughter and then back at me.

“Ok,” she said, and at first I wasn’t sure she said ok, but she nodded her head. Relief bloomed in me, and I was so ready to move past this.

“I’ll get George to have you sign the papers, transferring everything to your name. I’ve also left a lot of Henry’s stuff in the condo, including the phone you guys used to talk on.”