Chapter 4 - MY MOTHER'S VERSION
Eleanor returned home the next morning.
Not alone.
Gerald walked beside her.
So did two attorneys I did not recognize.
She entered my house as if nothing had happened.
I waited in the living room with Daniel and Marcus.
Eleanor stopped when she saw them.
“You changed the locks.”
“Yes.”
“This is my home.”
“No.”
I remained seated.
“This is my home.”
“I allowed you to live here.”
Her face tightened.
Gerald stepped forward.
“Sebastian, everyone is emotional.”
“Don’t.”
His mouth closed.
I looked at my mother.
“Sit.”
“I will not be ordered around by my own son.”
“Then stand.”
Eleanor stared at me.
“I went to the hospital.”
I stood.
“If you go near Clara again, security will remove you.”
“She is poisoning you against your family.”
“You nearly starved her.”
“That is absurd.”
“We have video.”
The color disappeared from her face for half a second.
Then she recovered.
“What video?”
I almost admired the instinct.
Lie until the evidence is placed directly in front of you.
Marcus turned on the television.
The dining room footage played.
Eleanor watched herself throw Clara’s plate into the trash.
Another clip showed her forcing Clara to scrub the floor.
Another showed her mocking Clara’s body.
Another showed Gerald discussing guardianship.
My mother crossed her arms.
“You have no context.”
I laughed.
“No context?”
“Clara was becoming unstable.”
“You made her unstable.”
“She was lazy.”
“She is eight months pregnant.”
“She used pregnancy as an excuse for everything.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Mrs. Vance, I suggest you stop speaking.”
Gerald glared at him.
“You have no authority here.”
Daniel smiled.
“Neither do you anymore.”
He handed Gerald a formal notice.
“You are terminated as legal counsel for Sebastian Vance and all companies controlled by him.”
Gerald did not take the envelope.
Daniel dropped it onto the table.
My mother looked at me.
“You would humiliate the man who protected this family for twenty years?”
“I’m beginning to wonder what he protected us from.”
Her expression hardened.
“Clara changed you.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“She reminded me who I was before I became rich enough for people to start lying to me.”
My mother’s eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, I almost reacted.
I had seen those tears my entire life.
When I challenged her.
When Julian disappointed her.
When my father refused something.
Then I remembered Clara beneath the table.
I remembered shrimp shells on a plastic plate.
The tears no longer worked.
“You owe me everything.”
There it was.
“I raised you.”
“I worked three jobs after your father died.”
“I went hungry for you.”
“I know.”
“And this is how you repay me?”
I looked at her.
“By refusing to let you abuse my wife?”
“She is not family.”
“She is more my family than anyone who watched her crawl.”
My mother flinched.
Gerald stepped between us.
“This conversation is over.”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“It’s beginning.”
Daniel placed another document on the table.
A forensic audit authorization.
“We’re reviewing the estate.”
Gerald’s face changed.
My mother turned toward him.
That reaction told me enough.
I smiled without humor.
“That’s what scares you.”
Neither answered.
I continued.
“You weren’t just trying to take Clara’s baby.”
“You were afraid I would look at something else.”
Gerald picked up his briefcase.
“You’re making reckless accusations.”
“Then you won’t mind an audit.”
He stopped.
My mother suddenly slapped me.
The sound cracked through the room.
Marcus stepped forward.
I raised one hand.
“No.”
I looked at Eleanor.
Her hand trembled.
She expected me to become the little boy who feared disappointing her.
I did not.
“You have one hour to remove your personal belongings.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re throwing your mother into the street?”
“You own two apartments.”
“They are investment properties.”
“Then congratulations.”
“You have somewhere to live.”
Her face twisted.
“You will regret this.”
I looked toward Gerald.
“I already regret enough.”
As they left, Julian appeared at the top of the stairs.
He had heard everything.
He looked at me.
May you like
Then at our mother.
For the first time in his life, he did not follow her.
