Chapter 13 - No More Signatures
“Baby, please.”
Stella walked toward me with her hands out.
I had waited years for that voice.
Soft.
Concerned.
Full of the tenderness she seemed to find so easily when she wanted something.
“I’m still your mother.”
I touched Grandma’s necklace.
“I know. That’s what makes this worse.”
She stopped at the bottom step.
“You don’t understand how lonely I’ve been.”
A murmur passed through the church.
I stared at her.
“You lived in my house.”
“That isn’t the same as being loved.”
“No,” I said. “It isn’t.”
Julian moved closer.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet. You’re making this bigger than it needs to be.”
Evelyn stepped beside me.
“There will be no private conversation today.”
He pointed at her.
“You’ve wanted me gone from the beginning.”
“I wanted accurate documents.”
His face changed.
I took the envelope Evelyn offered.
“The signing packet has been reviewed. The company has blocked your access. The pending payment to Northstar has been stopped.”
Mom went still.
Julian looked at her.
There was that glance again.
Only this time, everyone could see it.
I continued.
“The emails sent in my name have been preserved. So has the invoice bearing a signature I did not provide.”
“That was an administrative mistake,” he said.
“Then you can explain it to the people investigating it.”
His mouth tightened.
“You can’t prove I sent anything.”
Evelyn answered calmly.
“We’ve submitted the available records. Nobody here needs to conduct the investigation.”
I looked at my mother.
“Your cards are canceled. You will not return to my house without arranging a supervised time to collect your belongings.”
“You can’t throw me out in front of all these people.”
“You tried to take my company in front of a notary.”
A woman near the aisle whispered, “Oh, my God.”
Julian grabbed my wrist.
Not hard enough to injure.
Hard enough to remind me that he still believed touching me could stop me.
Marcus was beside us immediately.
“Release her.”
Julian looked at him.
Then at Robert, who had risen from his seat.
“Son,” Robert said, his voice breaking, “let her go.”
Julian did.
For one second, the cathedral was completely silent.
Then Stella turned on him.
“You said she would sign.”
The words rang through the room.
Julian stared at her.
Mom covered her mouth.
May you like
Too late.
The whole church had heard the one sentence neither of them could take back.
