Chapter 6: The Words a Mother Couldn’t Forget
The manager pressed play.
Tiffany’s voice came through the laptop.
“Move the signature lower.
It looks more natural there.”
Richard answered, “Daniel must never admit he gave you the file.”
Tiffany laughed.
“He’ll defend me.
He always does.”
Daniel pushed his chair back.
“You both used me.”
Tiffany reached for him.
“That recording is out of context.”
“What context makes that acceptable?”
“You said your mother would pay!”
“I said she loved me.
I never said you could rob her.”
Richard stood over him.
“Be careful, son.
Accusations have consequences.”
“So does forgery,” Naomi replied.
Tiffany’s face twisted.
“Daniel, if your mother reports this, our marriage is over.”
He looked at me as if I had placed the choice before him.
“Why couldn’t you just pay it?” he shouted.
“You had already spent so much.
Why did you have to destroy everything over one bottle?”
The words struck harder than his silence at the reception.
I gripped the edge of the table, but my fingers slipped.
Elaine caught me before I fell.
“Sit down, Margaret,” she said.
“Breathe.”
Daniel’s anger vanished.
“Mom?”
I pressed both hands over my face.
“I sold your father’s land for you.”
No one interrupted.
“I canceled the trip he asked me to take before he was gone.
I emptied the account we built together.
Then your wife raised her hand, and you asked why I wouldn’t buy one more bottle.”
Daniel knelt beside my chair.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.
Listen to me.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I raised you to be kind,” I said.
“But I protected you from every difficult choice until kindness became something you expected other people to provide.”
His shoulders shook.
“I used your love like it was a bank account.”
“You did.”
“I saw that authorization yesterday.
I knew something was wrong, but Tiffany said you would forgive us after the wedding.”
“And you believed her?”
“I wanted the party more than I wanted the truth.”
Tears ran down his face.
He rested his forehead against my hand, but he did not ask me to comfort him.
Elaine placed the ice-cold glass of water in front of me.
“You do not have to forgive anyone today.”
Richard pointed at her.
“You’re coming home with me.”
“No.”
“You have nowhere else to go.”
Elaine removed her wedding ring and set it beside his agreement.
“I called my sister this morning.
She made up her spare room.”
Richard stared at the ring.
“You’ll regret humiliating me.”
“I regret helping you humiliate Margaret.”
Tiffany grabbed her purse.
“Daniel, we’re leaving.”
He stood but did not follow.
“If you walk out with them,” she said, “you will never see me again.”
“Did you forge my mother’s name?”
Tiffany opened the door.
“Choose.”
Daniel moved to my side.
Tiffany’s hand tightened around the door handle.
May you like
“Fine,” she said.
“But before you congratulate yourself, Margaret should know I’m carrying her grandchild.”
