Chapter 18 - The Things She Couldn't Unsay
We met in a hospital conference room with Avery present. I hadn't agreed to be alone with Ruth, and I hadn't agreed to forgive her. Her lawyer sat beside her. Daniel stood behind my chair.
Ruth looked smaller than I remembered. She wore the same pearl earrings she'd worn the day she hit my bed. I hated that I noticed.
"Mariana," she began, "I was frightened."
"So was I."
"Victor told me if the loan failed, we'd lose everything."
"You had a phone," I said. "You could have called an ambulance."
She picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. "I thought you were exaggerating."
"You heard me say I was bleeding."
"I knew you were upset about the papers."
"You took my phone before you picked up the blanket. You sent messages pretending to be me. You told my husband not to come. Which part of that was an accident?"
Her lawyer leaned forward. "Ruth, you don't have to answer—"
"No," she said sharply. "She deserves to hear it."
She looked at me. "I saw a bloodstained towel that night. I told myself it was spotting. If Daniel came home, he'd see the papers. Victor said we only needed a few hours."
The room went so quiet I could hear the air conditioner rattle.
"You knew there was blood," Daniel said.
Ruth's eyes filled. "I thought I'd fix the money problem, then take care of Mariana."
"You can't put a living person on hold," he said.
She began to sob. I had imagined feeling satisfied when that happened. I felt tired instead.
"I'm not the one who can give you relief," I told her. "I was the one asking for it."
I wheeled myself toward the door. Behind me Ruth said, "I love that baby."
I stopped.
"Then love her from a distance," I replied. "She'll never learn that love means ignoring someone who's hurt."
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Outside, Avery's phone rang. She listened, then smiled for the first time all day.
"The judge granted temporary protection against the property transfer," she said. "And the investigators just found where Victor moved the trust money."
