Chapter 16 - What Was Real
I confronted Melissa in a supervised conference room.
No yelling.
No kids.
No audience.
Just us.
"Did Walter introduce us?"
She stared at the table.
"Yes."
I remembered the charity auction.
The spilled drink.
The laugh.
The conversation about terrible country music.
"You planned that?"
"The meeting. Not everything after."
I said nothing.
She finally looked up.
"I was supposed to get close enough to understand your family's records."
"And instead?"
"I fell in love with you."
"Then why keep helping them?"
Her eyes filled.
"Because I kept thinking I could separate the two things."
"You told him he wasn't yours," I said.
"I know."
"You let Emma and Theo believe he was leaving."
"I know."
"You tried to erase him legally."
She covered her face.
"I know."
I waited.
She whispered, "I'm sorry."
It was the first apology without an excuse.
It was also too late to fix what it broke.
I asked one question.
"Why the food?"
She looked ashamed.
"Because he kept asking about the trust. And every time he did, I heard Grant saying he was the reason we'd lose everything."
I stood.
"He asked for bread."
Melissa started crying.
I left.
Outside, Rachel was waiting.
"How did it go?"
"Bad."
She handed me a paper bag.
"Then eat."
Inside was a turkey sandwich.
I laughed for the first time in a week.
At home, Owen sat at the island doing homework.
I put a plate in front of him.
Chicken.
Rice.
Broccoli.
And one piece of bread.
He looked up.
"You don't have to make a thing out of it."
"I know."
"Are you going to cry?"
"Probably not."
He smiled.
Then my phone rang.
Federal investigators had completed a search of Walter's office.
They found my mother's missing trust letter.
May you like
And a recording she had made before her stroke.
The recording was addressed to me.
