"I'm sorry, Lucy," Zayn said. "I just can't do that to my friend."
"Zayn…"
"It's not even been a month," Zayn cut in. "How would it look if you got married to me now?"
"But…"
"You're trying to survive and I respect that," Zayn interrupted again, "… but I can't do that to my boy. I have money, Lucy, resources that can help. And I know lawyers. I can help you with all of those things, but not with what you're asking for."
Lucy lowered her gaze, Zayn had been her last hope and now she'd run out of options. She knew Eleanor, she knew that Eleanor would use every trick in the book to transfer Lucy's shares to herself. Eleanor knew how the company worked, and so did Xander.
But she didn't.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't desperate," Lucy said. "This wasn't easy for me, Zayn."
"I know," he replied, "… but I'm letting you know what I can give."
She looked up at him. "But it's not enough."
Zayn leaned forward. "Lucy, you're smart. Insanely smart, smarter than you'll ever know. And the way you've been fighting against your mother in law and your brother in law? You don't need a man to stand beside you with a fake ring on your finger. You need a team. And I can be that."
Lucy looked at him for a long while. She wanted to believe that she could fight back without having to wrap herself in the illusion of a marriage just to be taken seriously.
"A team," she repeated.
"Exactly," Zayn nodded. "Let me help you assemble the right people."
Lucy sat back in her chair. "Zayn, I don't know anything about this world. Damien handled all the big decisions while I signed all the documents and trusted him. But now… I don't even know where to begin."
"How about we get you an advisor first? Someone who will teach you the ins and the outs."
Lucy stared at him for a while.
"And the trust?" she finally asked.
"I'll help you challenge Eleanor's role," Zayn said. "Your lawyer's going to need financial records and any documents from the trust Damien filed. If Eleanor's abusing her power, we'll prove it."
Lucy chuckled at the thought of everything falling into place. "You really think I can do this?"
"I know you can." Zayn said. "You're Lucy Whitmore, remember?"
She eased into the chair and smiled. "Okay," she chuckled excitedly. "Okay, let's do this."
"Roth's still your lawyer, right? I'll call him and we'll get started on the paperwork," Zayn said, already pulling out his phone.
Lucy laughed from disbelief. This was the first time she was genuinely laughing when she was not with her children.
"You're really doing this?" she asked.
Zayn gave her a pointed look. "Lucy, Damien was my friend. He'd want me to do this. Now go on home. Go be with your kids. I'll be in touch first thing in the morning."
Lucy got up from her seat, flashed Zayn a smile and walked to the door. Before she turned the knob, she looked back at Zayn who was still watching her.
"You're a good man, Zayn Adler."
And she left.
Although, when Lucy got home, she saw the same Peugeot parked outside her home yet again.
"Not again," Lucy mumbled as she got out of her car.
The door of the Peugeot flung open and Eleanor got out of the car.
"Want me to call the police again?" Lucy asked.
Eleanor slammed the door shut and walked towards Lucy.
"That won't be necessary," she said and pulled out an envelope from her handbag. "I won't be staying long. I just came to deliver something."
Lucy narrowed her eyes at the envelope. "You could've mailed it."
"Oh, but this needed to be hand delivered," Eleanor said with a smirk. "I thought you'd want to see it before the lawyers do."
She handed Lucy the envelope. Lucy considered not taking it at first but if it was something she could fight against, she needed to know what it was. She took the envelope from Eleanor's hands and opened it.
"What is this?"
Eleanor smirked. "A revised version of Damien's will."
Lucy blinked as she read the contents of the envelope. "That's not possible."
"Well," Eleanor said with an infuriating smirk, "we thought that too. That was until it arrived at your lawyer's office, fully notarized and dated two weeks before Damien's death."
Lucy's heart dropped as she opened the envelope and brought out the multi page document. The document had official stamps, her husband's signature and a notary seal.
The document stated that, "in the event of Damien Whitmore's death, guardianship of the children and administrative authority over all assets would revert to Eleanor Whitmore as temporary custodian until Lucy Whitmore could prove reasonable business leadership."
"I'm sure this is some kind of mistake," Lucy said with a shaky breath. "It has to be some kind of mistake. This is fake."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll say that. But the courts will see this very differently," Eleanor said with a smug smile.
"This isn't his signature," Lucy said although she recognized his signature on the paper. She knew it was her husband's.
"Damien would never…"
"It's all there," Eleanor interrupted.
Lucy looked up at Eleanor as she trembled. "This is forged."
Eleanor tilted her head. "Oh, but it's not."
She turned and began walking back to her car. "I'll see you in court, Mrs. Lucy Whitmore. Or should I say Miss Lucy Whitmore?"
Lucy stared at Eleanor as she grunted in anger.
"Very soon, all of this," Eleanor said as she gestured to the house, "will cease to be yours."
As Eleanor drove away, Lucy stood there dumbfounded until she finally grunted and tore the paper.
She immediately grabbed her phone and dialed Mr. William Roth's number.
He answered almost immediately.
"I was about to call you…"
"Eleanor brought a will," Lucy said flatly. "Tell me it's fake."
There was a pause at the other end of the line.
"Tell me it's fake, William," Lucy breathed.
Another bout of silence. Then…
"It's legitimate."