CHAPTER 3 — MAY FINALLY TELLS THE TRUTH
That evening, I found May sitting in the garden.
She loved that place.
Especially the Japanese maple tree she planted thirty years ago.
I sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked confused.
“Tell you what?”
“That Jessica has been hurting you.”
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
Not because she was weak.
Because she was tired.
“I didn’t want to destroy your relationship with Christopher.”
I looked at my wife.
“My relationship with my son was destroyed the moment he watched someone hurt you.”
May looked down.
“She apologized every time.”
“She always said she didn’t mean it.”
I remained silent.
Then she whispered:
“I thought if I was kinder, she would eventually love me.”
That sentence broke something inside me.
Because May had spent years trying to earn kindness from someone who only understood fear.
I held her hand.
“You never had to earn love.”
“You deserved it from the beginning.”
Then she revealed the final secret.
The reason Jessica hated her.
“She found out about the trust.”
I frowned.
“What trust?”
May looked at me.
“The one you created for Christopher.”
My heart stopped.
Because that trust contained more than the house.
It contained family investments.
Money.
Assets.
And one condition.
The beneficiary could only receive full control after proving they were responsible.
May you like
Jessica didn’t want Christopher to become independent.
She wanted control.
