{"id":25735,"date":"2026-09-29T21:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25735"},"modified":"2026-09-29T21:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T21:46:10","slug":"part-15-jills-first-decision-about-their-future-forced-jeremy-to-give-up-control-and-put-their-home-money-and-marriage-on-separate-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25735","title":{"rendered":"PART 15 \u2013 Jill\u2019s First Decision About Their Future Forced Jeremy to Give Up Control\u2014and Put Their Home, Money, and Marriage on Separate Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The next morning, I called a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Not Cynthia.<\/p>\n<p>Someone who had never met Lacey.<\/p>\n<p>Never advised Jeremy.<\/p>\n<p>Never represented anyone connected to the second marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Her name was Dana Brooks, and she had handled a property dispute for a woman I worked with years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>I told Jeremy after I scheduled the appointment.<\/p>\n<p>He did not argue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want me there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened slightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need legal advice that belongs only to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I want copies of everything before I go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll have them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By noon, Jeremy had scanned the entire document box.<\/p>\n<p>Bank statements.<\/p>\n<p>Insurance forms.<\/p>\n<p>Marriage filings.<\/p>\n<p>Medical reimbursements.<\/p>\n<p>Emails.<\/p>\n<p>Receipts.<\/p>\n<p>Messages.<\/p>\n<p>His letter to me.<\/p>\n<p>Copies of Cynthia\u2019s paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>The old ledger involving my father.<\/p>\n<p>My mother\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Even screenshots from the phone.<\/p>\n<p>He placed everything on a drive.<\/p>\n<p>I checked twice before leaving.<\/p>\n<p>Not because I thought he would hide something now.<\/p>\n<p>Because trust was no longer a feeling.<\/p>\n<p>It was a process.<\/p>\n<p>Dana\u2019s office occupied the second floor of a renovated brick building downtown.<\/p>\n<p>No hospital smells.<\/p>\n<p>No courthouse counters.<\/p>\n<p>No family history.<\/p>\n<p>Just a quiet room with a large wooden table and a woman in navy glasses taking notes while I explained how my husband had become legally married to another woman without ending his marriage to me.<\/p>\n<p>Dana did not interrupt.<\/p>\n<p>That alone felt luxurious.<\/p>\n<p>When I finished, she removed her glasses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstatement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked through my documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst question. What do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone keeps asking that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m your lawyer. I\u2019m allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She wrote something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you need immediately?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinancial?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegal?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmotional is outside my license.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Then became serious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to separate three problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour marriage to Jeremy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJeremy\u2019s second marriage and any related legal exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the estate\/property issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not let anyone force those into one decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sentence immediately helped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may decide your marriage is over but still have a valid claim connected to Lacey\u2019s estate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may stay married while protecting your assets from Jeremy\u2019s potential liabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another nod.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may refuse the inheritance while still pursuing title rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hadn\u2019t thought of it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people don\u2019t when grief and betrayal arrive together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana reviewed the bank statements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe separate account concerns me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he hid it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of potential liabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan creditors reach our joint assets?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe document current ownership. We freeze unnecessary transfers. You do not move assets to hide them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Jeremy does not sell anything impulsively because he feels guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou already understand him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand guilty husbands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about the house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoint title?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMortgage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlmost paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll examine options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you tell me to divorce him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dana looked at me steadily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause that is not my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relief came unexpectedly.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone else had opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Stay.<\/p>\n<p>Leave.<\/p>\n<p>Forgive.<\/p>\n<p>Punish.<\/p>\n<p>Dana wanted facts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if divorce protects me financially?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen we discuss that as a legal strategy separate from whether you love him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Separate the problems.<\/p>\n<p>It felt revolutionary.<\/p>\n<p>We spent two hours reviewing everything.<\/p>\n<p>Then she reached the Nashville property documents Cynthia had sent overnight.<\/p>\n<p>Dana read them slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood interesting?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cComplicated interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She compared parcel descriptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour grandmother\u2019s deed appears to reserve land that later documents accidentally include in the Burcham tract.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the six acres were ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do we prove it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTitle research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould it still matter after fifty-eight years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotentially, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I rubbed my forehead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cResearch before deciding anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was again.<\/p>\n<p>Facts first.<\/p>\n<p>Before I left, Dana asked one more question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Jeremy staying?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGuest room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you feel safe with him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No hesitation.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHas he pressured you to forgive him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPressured you financially?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsked you to lie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot since this came out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen take time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I left feeling something I had not felt in days.<\/p>\n<p>Not better.<\/p>\n<p>Structured.<\/p>\n<p>There is comfort in knowing a disaster has categories.<\/p>\n<p>At home, Jeremy was repairing a loose hinge on the pantry door.<\/p>\n<p>I stood in the kitchen watching him.<\/p>\n<p>He looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did it go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDana says you are not allowed to sell everything you own in a guilt spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like Dana already.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe also says we need to protect joint assets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His expression became serious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want you waiting for instructions so you can perform obedience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy set down the screwdriver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want instead?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want you to understand the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>I explained.<\/p>\n<p>Separate legal exposure.<\/p>\n<p>Joint assets.<\/p>\n<p>Estate.<\/p>\n<p>Property title.<\/p>\n<p>Potential repayment.<\/p>\n<p>He listened.<\/p>\n<p>When I finished, he said, \u201cSo what\u2019s first?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe open separate checking accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face changed.<\/p>\n<p>Not dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>But I saw it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said separate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat scares you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause it feels like the beginning of you leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I appreciated the honesty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked down.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might also be the beginning of us having boundaries we should have had years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe keep the joint account for household bills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy paycheck goes to mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYours to yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd no hidden accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gave him a look.<\/p>\n<p>He corrected himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo accounts you don\u2019t know about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We went to the bank together.<\/p>\n<p>That felt strange.<\/p>\n<p>The same bank that had requested the marriage certificate and unknowingly started all of this.<\/p>\n<p>The employee helping us smiled politely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat can I do for you today?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy and I looked at each other.<\/p>\n<p>A laugh almost escaped me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeparate checking accounts,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>The process took forty minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Forms.<\/p>\n<p>Signatures.<\/p>\n<p>Passwords.<\/p>\n<p>Debit cards.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing dramatic.<\/p>\n<p>Yet when I walked out holding a folder with my name alone on it, I felt something important.<\/p>\n<p>Not independence from Jeremy.<\/p>\n<p>Ownership of myself.<\/p>\n<p>Back home, we tackled the next decision.<\/p>\n<p>The guest room.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy had been sleeping there for two nights.<\/p>\n<p>The bed was too small.<\/p>\n<p>His clothes were still in our bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>His toothbrush remained beside mine.<\/p>\n<p>Half separated.<\/p>\n<p>Half pretending.<\/p>\n<p>I stood in the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need to move your things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the guest room?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes lowered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He began quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Shirts.<\/p>\n<p>Jeans.<\/p>\n<p>Underwear.<\/p>\n<p>Work boots.<\/p>\n<p>Toiletries.<\/p>\n<p>Watching him remove his clothes from our shared closet hurt more than I expected.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-two years reduced to hangers moving ten feet down a hallway.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy paused holding the navy suit he wore to his mother\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeave that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was not the reason.<\/p>\n<p>The suit belonged in the closet.<\/p>\n<p>Some objects still felt ours.<\/p>\n<p>I was not ready to dismantle everything.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy understood without making me explain.<\/p>\n<p>He rehung it.<\/p>\n<p>By evening, his daily life had moved into the guest room.<\/p>\n<p>We ate dinner at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n<p>Frozen pizza.<\/p>\n<p>Neither of us had energy to cook.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked at my plate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not eating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve had one bite.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I took another out of irritation.<\/p>\n<p>He smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat worked for twenty-two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not get comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWouldn\u2019t dream of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then I asked, \u201cWhen did you know you loved me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked surprised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the hardware store kiss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long before?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were still with Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause saying it would make it real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood that more than I wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Lacey?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did I stop loving her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy stared at his plate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I expected the answer.<\/p>\n<p>It still hurt.<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kind of love changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI stopped imagining a future with her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore we kissed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo emotionally you left before physically leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou see why she hated me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t make what she did to us right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Something had changed in how we spoke.<\/p>\n<p>No defense.<\/p>\n<p>No argument over whose pain was legitimate.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple truths could exist.<\/p>\n<p>Lacey taught us that much.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, Cynthia called.<\/p>\n<p>The annulment filing had been accepted for review despite Lacey\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>No decision yet.<\/p>\n<p>Then she mentioned the estate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas filed a notice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy looked up from his coffee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of notice?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is not contesting the will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is asserting a possible ownership claim connected to the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on his family\u2019s investment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnclear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he trying to take the house?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t think?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe included a letter stating he wants the title history corrected, not the estate taken.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I relaxed slightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he wants the truth too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cynthia continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is another issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLacey named Jeremy executor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy froze.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe changed it six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cynthia remained calm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI expected that response.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t be executor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can decline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI decline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJeremy,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I should not control her estate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is actually a sensible reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cynthia agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need an alternate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Cynthia continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are named second.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would she do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she trusted you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n<p>A dead woman who once hated me had left me her estate and the responsibility to administer it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJill\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need advice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will call Dana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After we hung up, Jeremy said, \u201cYou should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just declined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I\u2019m compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo am I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll follow the documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you wouldn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d be tempted to make decisions based on what I think Lacey wanted beyond what she wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was honest.<\/p>\n<p>I sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you think I won\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you\u2019re angry enough to follow rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly the nicest thing you\u2019ve said about my anger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then his face became serious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI trust you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words hit harder than expected.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou trusted me enough to run an estate but not enough to tell me you had another wife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not say it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I rubbed my forehead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll ask Dana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That afternoon, another envelope arrived by courier from Cynthia\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was Lacey\u2019s formal executor designation.<\/p>\n<p>Behind it, one handwritten note.<\/p>\n<p>Jill,<\/p>\n<p>If you are reading this, Jeremy probably said no because for once his guilt made him choose correctly.<\/p>\n<p>I laughed out loud.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy came into the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I handed him the note.<\/p>\n<p>He read it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He kept reading.<\/p>\n<p>I chose you second because I think you will protect everyone by protecting no one from the facts.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>He passed the note back.<\/p>\n<p>The final line read:<\/p>\n<p>Please find out what the Nashville land really belongs to before you decide what to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>I folded the paper.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Not a gift.<\/p>\n<p>A task.<\/p>\n<p>One final truth Lacey wanted uncovered.<\/p>\n<p>I called Dana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I may need to serve as executor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course you do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you help?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd title research?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow far back can we go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs far as the records take us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward Jeremy.<\/p>\n<p>He was standing at the kitchen window.<\/p>\n<p>Separate bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>Separate accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Still here.<\/p>\n<p>Still waiting without asking what any of it meant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo it,\u201d I told Dana.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, I formally accepted the role of executor.<\/p>\n<p>Not as Lacey\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n<p>Not as her rival.<\/p>\n<p>Not as Jeremy\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n<p>As the person responsible for finding what was true.<\/p>\n<p>And for the first time, I understood why she chose me.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=25740\">Click here to continue reading: PART 16: The Search Through Lacey\u2019s Property Records Uncovered a Hidden Transfer That Connected Both Families\u2014and Gave Jill a Choice No Court Could Make<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The next morning, I called a lawyer. Not Cynthia. Someone who had never met Lacey. Never advised Jeremy. Never represented anyone connected to the second marriage. Her name was Dana &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25790,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25735\/revisions\/25790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}