Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) (3 page)

“After you,” he said, a smile widening his
face, accentuating the dimple that cleft his chin, adding a touch
of masculine ruggedness to his otherwise smooth face.

“Thank you,” she said, pulling the skirt of
her dress to the side as she quickly entered the lawyer’s
office.

Mr. Fournet shut the door firmly behind her
and turned the lock. “I’m locking the door, Drew,” he called. “The
press knows we’re here.”

“Quick thinking, Louis,” Drew Soulier
replied, approaching Marian, his walk smooth, his face serious.
Dark and regal, the man looked like a sober lawyer, except for the
twinkle in his green eyes. “Mrs. Cuvier, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Mr. Soulier,” she said, and then
glanced about the room. She felt awkward, unsure of what to do.

A slight cough drew her gaze to the two women
who claimed to be Jean’s wives, each one standing stiffly on
opposite sides of the room. Though she expected they would be
represented at the reading, she had hoped they would send their
attorneys, rather than appear themselves.

They stood awkwardly, not looking at one
another, staring off into space. Marian wanted to curse her dead
husband for the situation he’d created. Hell wasn’t good enough for
one who had hurt her and their children so much.

Drew saw her looking at the two women and
whispered, “I thought it would be wise for them to hear Jean’s last
will and testament. But if you’d be more comfortable, I’ll send
them away.”

“No,” she said quickly, trying to cover her
resentment. “Let us all hear Jean’s wishes at the same time,”
Marian said, her heart cringing with dread.

“All right, as you wish,” Drew replied, and
turned toward the other women. “Ladies, tea and refreshments are in
my office. Please go inside so we can get started.”

He motioned them to proceed.

Marian entered the lawyer’s office and
glanced around the dark paneled room. She turned and watched the
women as they entered, the tension in the room almost unbearable.
The men seemed poised to step between them in the unlikely event a
fight should break out.

Layla entered her eyes down, refusing to look
at Marian, while Nicole walked through the door with her head held
high, and her eyes red-rimmed as if she had been crying. Jean’s
death appeared to have shocked them and she wondered if they had
really cared for her dead husband.

Drew closed the door enclosing them all
together and Nicole nodded her head in Marian’s direction. “Mrs.
Cuvier.”

Marian returned her head bob, and then turned
her attention to Layla, who stood with her back straight, her eyes
staring at a distant object. She looked so young and fragile.

“Mrs. C-c—” Layla stumbled over the name.

“I think it would so much easier if we
dropped the formalness and called each other by our given names,”
Marian said, glancing at each woman.

Layla nodded, “Please, I’m going back to my
maiden name anyway.”

“I think that’s wise,” Marian said curtly,
trying to remember they were victims, as was she.

A tense silence greeted her and for a few
moments her words seemed to hang suspended in the air. Suddenly she
realized they were both looking to her and she felt compelled to
speak her mind.

“This is an extremely awkward situation we
find ourselves in. The press is outside just waiting for us to
succumb to arguing over whatever crumbs Jean has tossed our way.”
She sighed and stared at them. “Ladies, I have no desire to come to
blows over a man who deceived me like my ... our dead husband. I
only wish to take care of my children and live in peace without
them being tarnished by their father’s scandal.”

She paused and glanced at each woman. “Keep
in mind, I shall certainly do what I must to protect my
babies.”

Layla let out a long sigh. “I understand. But
Jean lied to me as well.”

Nicole removed her hat from her carefully
coiffed blonde hair and laid the bonnet on a table nearby. “Excuse
me:
I
loved Jean very much. Though I can’t help but wonder
why he didn’t tell me the truth.” She took out her handkerchief and
dabbed her eyes. “It’s so unfair that he died knowing all the
reasons he did this but keeping them from us. Surely there’s an
explanation.”

“I’m sure he could give you one, but why do
you care? He lied to all of us. If he were alive, he wouldn’t tell
you the truth. He would just invent some new excuse to protect
himself,” Marian said, wondering at the woman’s blindness to her
husband, a man who hadn’t cared for anyone but himself.

Nicole shook her head in disagreement, but
didn’t dispute Marian’s comments. “But I loved him!”

“We all did at some time in our life,” Marian
said, attempting to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, knowing
she’d failed, and feeling like an idiot because of Jean’s
betrayal.

“I hated him,” Layla stated her voice
quivering with emotion.

The room became silent as they all stared at
her. She was the one the police suspected. A shiver went through
Marian.

“Ladies, we need to get started,” Drew said
standing beside the door ending their impromptu confessions. “Why
don’t you all take a seat?”

The lawyer seated the three women in chairs
placed strategically apart, while Louis Fournet stood at the back
of the room, his hands across his chest, a lock of deep brown hair
falling over his forehead. He gazed at Marian and raised his
darkened brows in a questioning way. Marian frowned at him and
wondered what his look meant

Drew cleared his throat “Before I read the
will, I want to acknowledge some facts and let you all know why I
invited Louis Fournet. He is co-owner of Cuvier Shipping and for
that reason I requested his presence here today.” He paused,
looking at each of them. “I must clarify my position in this
difficult situation. If I had known of Jean entering into any legal
act of marriage with Nicole or Layla, I would have advised against
such an unlawful arrangement. I knew nothing of your supposed
marriages.”

Marian felt a sense of relief that at least
Jean’s lawyer had not been involved in his treachery.

Drew glanced down at the will he held in his
hands holding them all in suspense. “According to Louisiana law the
only legal marriage the state recognizes is the first one to Marian
Cuvier. I’m sorry to say, Nicole, that your marriage and Layla’s
are not binding and therefore unless he names you specifically in
the will, you will receive nothing.”

Both women gazed at Drew, their eyes
widening, the shock of the news seeming to stun them.

“If you had been his mistress and he’d named
you in the will, then you would inherit. But as an illegal spouse
you receive nothing unless you’re named in the will.”

He cleared his throat and turned to Layla.
“Jean wrote this will four years ago.” He paused and gazed with
sympathy at the young woman. “I’m sorry, but the will was written
before your marriage.”

A gasp could be heard. Layla opened her
mouth— the words seeming to hang suspended—before she finally said,
“I have nothing?” she asked perplexed. “What will I do? Where will
I go?”

She stood, her eyes seeming to glaze over.
“You don’t understand! Jean bankrupted my father’s business. My
father made him marry me, just so I would be taken care of. Our
shipping company had been the family business for over three
generations before it was taken over by Cuvier Shipping. I have no
means of support I have nothing!”

Drew swallowed and shook his head. “I’m
sorry, Layla. Legally, everything belongs to Jean’s estate,
including the house and the business.”

The girl swallowed and glanced around the
room, her eyes wide with disbelief. “I have to leave my home?”

“Yes, it’s in Jean’s name.”

Her eyes pooled with tears as she tried to
absorb this startling revelation.

“How long before I have to get out of the
house?” she asked, visibly trembling.

“Jean appointed me executor of his will. I’ll
give you thirty days to find another residence. Is that all right
Marian?” he asked his green eyes dark with worry.

Marian knew she wasn’t supposed to feel
sympathy for the young woman, but she couldn’t help herself. She
hated what Jean had done to all of them.

“Yes, please give her all the time she needs
to find another place to live.”

“Thank you.” Layla stood, her face completely
ashen. “I have to leave—I can’t stay—I have to think about what I’m
going to do. I must get out of here.”

Flinging open the door to Drew’s office, she
ran out into the entry way. A sob echoed in the entry hall as she
fumbled with the lock and then yanked open the outside door and
disappeared as the door slammed.

“Someone should go after her,” Marian said,
her voice sounding stilted to her own ears. “We can’t just let her
go like that!”

Drew stood up and walked to the door. He
shouted a young man’s name. The clerk came from the back of the
building.

“Eric, go after that young woman and make
sure she makes it back to the hotel safely.”

“Yes, sir.”

Drew shut his office door again, and returned
to the, chair behind his desk.

Marian shuddered, feeling as though some evil
had touched her with the realization of Jean’s deception. “This is
dreadful.”

“What about me?” Nicole asked. “The
plantation is in my name.” Her voice broke and a sob escaped. “We
never got around to putting his name on the deed.”

“If it’s in your name, then your home is your
own,” Drew said taking a deep breath. “Let’s finish this.”

He proceeded to read Jean’s last will and
testament, as Marian sat waiting expectantly for the moment of
revelation. The moment when they found out they were wealthy
widows.

After several minutes Drew paused and looked
at Louis. “Regarding Cuvier Shipping—I entrust the running of the
business to my partner Louis Fournet until my son, Philip Cuvier,
reaches the age of understanding. My son’s guardian, his mother
Marian Cuvier, will vote or act in my son’s best interest until he
reaches the age of eighteen.”

Marian glanced at Louis, noticing the
tightening of his expression. An unreadable look graced his face,
except for one little place above his temple that pulsed with
impatience.

Drew finished reading the will and laid it
down on the desk.

“That’s it?” Nicole asked. “He left me
nothing?”

“I’m sorry, Nicole,” Drew said, the office
silent.

She looked stunned. “But . . . but, I was
married to him. I loved him. We were ...” She jumped up and before
anyone could reach her, she crumpled to the floor in a dead
faint

Marian rushed to her side, where Louis joined
her. “Get some smelling salts!”

The woman moaned. “No ammonia! I’m all right
Just give me a moment to clear my head. I must have stood up too
quickly.”

Nicole moved, trying to sit up, but Louis
touched her shoulder. “Lie back and give yourself a few more
minutes.”

She looked up at Marian. “He left me nothing?
I didn’t dream that part, did I?”

Marian glanced away and swallowed the lump
that had risen in her throat. She felt awful for feeling relieved
that the bulk of the estate had been left to her and her children.
“No, you didn’t”

Finally Nicole rose and dusted off her skirt.
She glanced around the room and sighed. “I’m going back to the
hotel. I can’t believe he did this to me. That bastard left me
nothing.”

“I’m sorry,” Marian whispered.

Nicole sighed. She started to leave and then
turned to Marian. “Mrs. Cuvier, this must be extremely difficult
for you.”

Marian nodded. “No more than it’s been for
you.”

“I must be going. Goodbye.” The woman walked
out of Drew’s office, her head held high, her back straight. When
she opened the door to the outside world, the sound of a crowd
intruded. Drew went to the window and glanced out at the crowd of
reporters who surrounded the front steps vying for attention.

As the door closed, Marian breathed a sigh of
relief. She turned and found both men gazing at her, their
expressions stunned. “What? Why are the two of you gazing at me
like I’m some kind of ogre?”

“Close the door and take a seat, Mrs.
Cuvier.” Drew’s voice was serious, so intense that a shiver ran up
her spine. He returned to his desk.

She swallowed, suddenly quite nervous.

“What I didn’t tell the women while they were
here is that while you are not broke, running three households has
certainly put a drain on your personal finances and even hurt
Cuvier Shipping,” Drew informed her.

“Are you trying to tell me that I have no
money? How bad is the situation?” she asked.

Drew stood and walked around the room, his
hands in his pockets. “You still have money, but you must be
careful until either Cuvier Shipping recovers, or you remarry.”

She laughed. “Remarry? You assume too much,
Mr. Soulier. I have no intentions of ever remarrying.” Louis gazed
at her and she thought she could feel his disapproval and for some
reason that irritated her. “Do I need to sell the house? Get rid of
the servants? What?”

“No. I would advise you to be conservative.
Maybe consider selling Layla’s house.”

“Not right away. I just couldn’t do that to
her,” Marian said with a grimace. “Give me your definition of
conservative.”

“It means you have enough money to live on,
but nothing extra. Nothing extravagant. No redecorating the house
or buying another house. You have enough to live at your current
expenditure for a couple of years. By then I hope the business will
have recovered.”

“What about the business? How is it doing?”
she glanced at Louis Fournet.

“Last quarter profits were up, but I don’t
know how the scandal will affect our customers. We’ll have to wait
and see,” he said.