Chapter 26 - MY FATHER DIES
Dad died at eighty-eight.
Peacefully.
Heart failure.
No secret Mafia enemies.
No hidden land empire discovered beneath a floorboard.
His estate plan had been revised professionally for years.
Some real estate passed through trusts.
Some sold.
Some continued under management.
Grace inherited beneficial interests, not a ceremonial key.
Bellemont had been sold years earlier.
East Yard eventually sold to an institutional real-estate fund.
The Vellaro tenant remained under its lease.
Again.
Business outlived family mythology.
At Dad’s funeral, Adrian attended at Grace’s request.
He stood near the back.
No claim to the front row.
Afterward he touched my arm lightly only after asking.
“Your father hated me.”
“Yes.”
“He was fair anyway.”
May you like
“Yes.”
That was one of Dad’s best qualities.
