Chapter 5 - THE MERCEDES
Joanna laughed when Amelia mentioned the trust.
Not nervously.
Not defensively.
She laughed as though Amelia had accused her of stealing the moon.
“You met Martin Hale?”
“Yes.”
“That fossil has hated me for years.”
“He showed me the records.”
“Old records.”
“Trust records.”
Joanna walked toward the window.
Amelia had insisted they meet in the lobby of Joanna’s apartment building.
Public.
Cameras everywhere.
No Maisie.
No private confrontation.
Joanna understood exactly what those choices meant.
“You’re turning this into something it wasn’t.”
“Then tell me what it was.”
“Mom wanted flexibility.”
“The document names me as trustee.”
“She changed her mind.”
“Show me the original amendment.”
Joanna’s eyes hardened.
“I don’t keep eight-year-old paperwork in my purse.”
“You used forty-eight thousand dollars two days before buying your Mercedes.”
Joanna’s face remained still.
That frightened Amelia more than denial would have.
Finally Joanna said, “I was owed money.”
“By a seven-year-old?”
“By Mom.”
“Then why take it from Maisie’s trust?”
“It wasn’t really Maisie’s money yet.”
Amelia stared at her.
Joanna realized too late what she had admitted.
The lobby suddenly felt very quiet.
“You knew the trust existed.”
“Of course I knew.
I handled the estate.”
“And you took money from it.”
“I managed it.”
“You bought a Mercedes.”
“I reimbursed myself for expenses.”
“Forty-eight thousand dollars of expenses?”
“I took care of Mom.”
Amelia’s voice dropped.
“For six weeks.”
Joanna turned sharply.
“For six weeks while you were useless.”
There it was again.
Amelia felt the old shame rise.
Daniel’s funeral.
Her mother’s stroke.
Morning sickness so severe she had been hospitalized twice.
Days when showering felt impossible.
Nights when she slept holding Daniel’s shirt against her chest.
Joanna had stepped in.
Joanna had made phone calls.
Joanna had arranged paperwork.
And then Joanna had spent eight years turning six weeks of help into a lifetime debt.
“You needed me.”
Joanna’s voice softened.
“You forget that.”
“No.”
Amelia looked at her.
“I remembered it every time I paid your rent.”
Joanna’s face tightened.
“I deserve better than this.”
“You received better than this.”
Amelia placed a folder on the table.
“Rent.
Utilities.
Car insurance.
Health insurance.
Credit cards.
Vacations.
Emergency loans.”
Joanna glanced at it.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I added it.”
“How much?”
“Seven hundred eighty-four thousand dollars.”
For the first time, Joanna genuinely looked shocked.
Amelia continued.
“That does not include the money from Maisie’s trust.”
Joanna sat down.
“You tracked everything?”
“I did last night.”
“You’re sick.”
“No.
I was asleep.”
Amelia picked up the folder.
“I have an attorney now.”
Joanna’s eyes snapped upward.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I already did.”
“You’ll destroy this family.”
Amelia almost answered.
Then her phone rang.
It was Maisie’s school.
The receptionist sounded nervous.
“Ms. Mercer, we have a situation.”
Amelia stood immediately.
“What happened?”
“Your sister is here.”
Amelia’s blood ran cold.
May you like
“She says she has permission to take Maisie home.”
She did not.
