Brandon jaw tightened. Tiffany hand squeezed his arm.
Mr. Lawson opened the folder.
“There is a personal statement written by Abigail,” he said. “In her handwriting. Dated three weeks before her death.”
Brandon stood abruptly.
“This is a joke,” he snapped. “She never wrote anything like that.”
Mr. Lawson raised one hand slightly.
“Please sit,” he said. “Everyone deserves to hear her voice.”
Brandon slowly sat, breathing hard.
Mr. Lawson began to read.
“If you are hearing this, I am no longer alive. Brandon, I know about Tiffany. I have known for longer than you think.”
Gasps moved through the church like wind through tall grass. My mother covered her mouth. My father stared forward, stunned.
Brandon face lost color.
“I tried to forgive you for our child sake,” the letter continued. “But each lie made me feel smaller in my own home. So I prepared for a future where I may not be here.”
Mr. Lawson paused only once to adjust his glasses.
“To my husband, I leave nothing beyond what the law requires. You may keep what is already in your name. You have taken enough.”
Brandon shot to his feet again.
“She was emotional,” he shouted. “She was pregnant. This is not valid.”
Tiffany whispered urgently. “Sit down. Please.”
Mr. Lawson voice grew firmer.
“The house, savings, and insurance benefits are placed in a trust for my unborn son, Isaac. If Isaac does not survive, the trust passes to my sister, Sarah Mitchell, to manage in my memory.”
I felt dizzy. I had not known. Tears blurred my sight.
Brandon laughed sharply.
“Sarah cannot manage a lemonade stand,” he said. “This is insane.”
Mr. Lawson opened his briefcase and removed a sealed envelope.
“There is more,” he said. “This was delivered to my office two days before Abigail death. It was marked to be opened if her death was ruled an accident.”
Brandon froze. Tiffany eyes widened.
Mr. Lawson broke the seal.
“If Brandon tells you I fell, do not believe him blindly,” the letter read. “On February fourteenth, after I confronted him about his affair, he grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise. He told me if I ruined his life he would ruin mine. I do not feel safe.”
The church felt like it had lost air. Breaths were shallow. Silence was absolute.
Mr. Lawson reached again into his briefcase and placed a small flash drive on the pulpit.