Practiced Ethan’s signature.
Applied for loans.
She needed access to my records but could not enter the locked office.
That explained her repeated attempts.
It also explained the rage over the packages.
Margaret believed they might contain financial documents.
She had not thrown boiling water because I bought books.
She attacked me because she felt her access slipping away.
“You could have told us,” Ethan said.
“And let her laugh at me?”
I stared at her.
“You thought I would laugh?”
“You always looked down on me.”
“No, Margaret. You looked down on me.”
She pointed at my uniform.
“You hid this.”
“My work was not your business.”
“You let me think you were unemployed.”
“You chose to insult me without knowing the truth. That was your decision.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You wanted to humiliate me.”
“I wore this uniform because I have an official ceremony today.”
“You brought all these people.”
“Because you assaulted me and may have compromised a secured workspace.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“You cannot let her press charges.”
He stood very still.
For years, he had asked me to ignore his mother.
Now there were burns beneath my bandages and forged documents spread across a table.
“Did you throw the water?” he asked.
Margaret began crying.
“I was scared.”
“That is not an answer.”
“She was going to make me leave.”
“Did you throw it?”
“Yes!”
The word echoed through the room.
Everyone went silent.
Margaret pressed both hands over her mouth.
Ethan closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, something had changed.
“You need to go with the officers.”
Her expression collapsed.
“I am your mother.”
“And Lauren is my wife.”
“I did this for us.”
“No. You did this to us.”
She reached for him.
He stepped back.
The police arrested Margaret for assault.
The forged applications and copied documents triggered a separate financial investigation.
Her belongings were inventoried and later removed under supervision.
The security inspection found no breach of my protected equipment, but my home workspace was temporarily decommissioned as a precaution.
General Sloan waited until the officers escorted Margaret outside.
Then she looked at me.
“You do not have to attend the ceremony.”
