Page 128 of Destiny

“Is it?” I ask. “At least this is only money. She hurt people. Shekilledpeople.”

Ryan shakes his head. “I’m not comparing the two. What I mean is that the amount of this trust—these liens—is nothing compared to what Ava is entitled to as a Steel heir. It’s like a drop in the bucket. I don’t understand why…”

Ava pats her father’s hand. “It’s better that you don’t understand, Dad.” She turns to Wolfram. “Does the trust have any assets other than the liens?”

“Most of it was tied up in the liens,” Wolfram says, “but there is some cash value. About two million dollars.”

“What happens with that money?” she asks.

Mr. Wolfram leans forward. “It’s yours. The grantor, Ms. Madigan, through the Fleming Corporation, specified that upon her death, the beneficiary, you, may receive all trust assets without restriction.”

Ava bites on her lip. “I think… It’s not a lot of money, but I think I’d like to distribute it to the people of Snow Creek. To all the lienholders equally. For the emotional duress my grandmother put them through.”

“That’s generous of you, sweet pea.” Ryan smiles.

Ava shakes her head. “Hardly. It’s money I never knew I had, and as you said before, it’s a drop in the bucket. In fact… I want to give the rest of the inheritance to the people of Snow Creek as well. We’ll form a committee. Figure out what the town needs. Wendy’s money will do good, not evil.”

“Are you sure about this, young lady?” Wolfram asks.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She looks to me. “Except for when I told this man that I love him.”

My cheeks warm, and Ryan glares at me.

But Ava smiles, squeezes my hand. “I understand now. I understand all of it. Everything the cards were trying to tell me, even everything my grandmother was trying to tell me. In a way? I owe her some gratitude.”

Ryan rolls his eyes. “You don’t owe that woman anything, Ava.”

“I owe her my life, Dad, and so do you. You and I wouldn’t be here but for her.”

“I stopped thinking about that a long time ago,” Ryan says.

“But don’t you see? She wasn’t a good person,” Ava says. “I think we can all agree on that. And in the end, we didn’t get all the answers we wanted, but Brendan, now you know who was behind your great-uncle’s death. You can let that rest. Now we know why Patty Watson died. We can let that rest.”

“We still don’t know who shot my brother,” Ryan says. “Though my mother did imply she was behind that. And we still don’t know…”

“What, Dad?”

“A lot of things. Who was behind the crimes that were being committed on our property…” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “My mother was behind it, but she wasn’t acting alone. And who that orange diamond ring belongs to… We don’t know everything yet, Ava.”

“If we’re meant to know, we’ll find out. But the point is that Wendy Madigan is dead, and I’m going to see that her money does some good.”

“It’s very generous of you, Ava,” I say, “but we need to make sure the money is clean.”

Ava bites on her lip, fiddles with her lip ring. I try not to get turned on.

“That’s a good point, Mr. Wolfram. HowdoI know this money is clean? My grandmother was involved in some criminal activities. Alotof criminal activities.”

“We can look into that for you, trace the origins of the money.”

“Yes, I’d like you to do that.”

“However, if it’s been laundered, we won’t find the origins, and if we begin the investigation, it will stay in probate, which means it could be years before you get the money.”

“Fine,” she says. “Then I want to take the same amount of money out of my trust fund and give it to the town. Make up for the havoc my grandmother has caused.”

“Ava…” I begin. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am, Brendan.” She grabs my hand. “It’s my money, and this is what I want to do. If it turns out my grandmother’s money is clean, I’ll repay my trust fund.”

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