“How much money are we actually talking about here?” I inquired, trying to grasp the scale of the situation.

“We are discussing legal control over asset portfolios valued at billions of dollars,” Madeline revealed.

I suddenly recalled my mother insisting that Astrid could not be burdened with a public scandal before leaving for Europe. It had all been an elaborate lie, because my parents never cared about hiding a simple pregnancy, but rather hiding the child’s true father until the leverage was secured.