Chapter 11 - THE PRICE OF COMING BACK
My mother stood.
“You knew three weeks ago.”
Grace didn’t look up.
“I suspected.”
“You received an email saying I was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me walk into that hotel.”
Grace’s mouth trembled.
“I didn’t know he would hurt you.”
Mom bent over the table.
“You knew he had already hurt me.”
Nobody tried to calm her down.
That was good.
People were always asking my mother to be calm when somebody else had made a mess of her life.
Maya asked Grace to explain how Sarah’s arrival at the gala had been arranged.
“It wasn’t,” Mom said.
“I saw the announcement. I took the cleaning shift because I couldn’t get through the office.”
“You called?” Evelyn asked.
“Four times.”
Grace covered her face.
Those calls had reached the same people who had kept the letters.
Hugh knew Mom was looking for Evelyn again.
He knew about the bank’s request for records.
That was why he had been waiting by the service entrance.
Not because he could predict everything.
Because the same closed doors were still working for him.
Maya requested copies of the office call logs and told Grace she should have her own attorney.
Evelyn nodded.
Then she turned to Mom.
“I would like to pay for whatever you need.”
Mom laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
“I needed a mother when I was seventeen.”
“I know.”
“No. You’re learning.”
Evelyn took that without defending herself.
Maya spoke before the silence turned into another fight.
“Sarah is entitled to independent advice. Any immediate assistance needs no conditions, no release, and no control over her decisions.”
“Agreed,” Evelyn said.
Mom looked at her for a long time.
Then she said, “I’ll accept a safe place for Nora while this is investigated.”
Evelyn nodded quickly.
“But you don’t get a key.”
“No key.”
“You don’t come without asking.”
“I won’t.”
“And you never use money to make her say she loves you.”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“I understand.”
Mom sat down.
It wasn’t forgiveness.
It was a door opened one inch.
Then Maya’s phone buzzed.
She read the message twice.
“Hugh has filed an emergency request concerning the trust.”
Mom went pale.
“What does that mean?”
“He’s trying to keep the remaining records and assets under his control.”
May you like
Maya looked at Evelyn.
“We need to move before he does.”
