The Twins Chose Delphine Before Touching Their Inheritance

I could barely hold the pen. Thaddeus immediately protested that they were being emotional and should think about their inheritance first. Silas looked at him and said, “That’s exactly why we did this before discussing the money.” Ingrid then opened the trust records. Under its terms, Thaddeus’s authority as trustee ended when both beneficiaries reached adulthood, and the twins had already directed that future management be transferred to an independent financial institution rather than his investment company.

That was when the blue folder suddenly mattered. It contained projections showing how much Thaddeus expected to earn managing their assets for the next decade. There was nothing automatically illegal about proposing his firm, but the boys had never agreed to it. Ingrid had also requested a complete final accounting of the trust before any assets moved. Thaddeus went quiet when she mentioned that part.

I signed the adoption petition.

Months later, after the required hearing, the judge approved it.

Rafferty and Silas kept their inheritance under independent management and stayed in my house while starting college.

Fifteen years earlier, everyone had asked who would take responsibility for two frightened little boys.

At eighteen, those boys finally got to answer for themselves.