More silence.
Then Margaret’s voice changed — colder, harder.
“That was a different time.
I was protecting you.”
“You told me she abandoned me.
You told me she never paid a cent for my college.
I’ve seen the bank statements.
Eighteen years of payments, Grandma.
Every single month.”
“Those don’t mean anything —”
“They mean everything.
You lied.
For my entire life, you lied.”
Margaret’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“You don’t understand.
She wasn’t fit.
She was young and broke and alone.
I did what any mother would do.”
“You took my mother from me.”
“I gave you a better life.”
“No.
You gave me your version of one and made me hate the person who loved me most.”
Clara sat still.
She didn’t speak.
She let Sophie say it.
Margaret’s voice came through the speaker one last time.
“If you choose her, don’t bother coming back to this house.”
Sophie looked at Clara.
Clara shook her head slowly.
“You don’t have to choose,” Clara said softly.
“I already lost you once.
I won’t be the reason you lose anyone else.”
Sophie ended the call.
She set the phone down on the counter like it weighed a hundred pounds.
“She’s been controlling me my whole life,” Sophie said.
“And I let her.”
“You were a child.
She made sure you never heard the other side.”
“Mom.
I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.
Be here.”
Sophie wiped her eyes.
“I’m here.”
—
The next morning, Daniel called.
“Clara, Mom is losing it.
She’s calling everyone.
She says Sophie turned against her because you brainwashed her.”
“Did she tell you what she did to me?”
“She said you gave up custody willingly.”
“Ask her to show you the letter she wrote me.
Ask her about the bank account.”
“What bank account?”
“The one I funded for Sophie’s college.
The one Mom took credit for.”
Daniel was quiet for a long time.
“She told me you never paid for anything.
She said you were a deadbeat.”
“I worked three jobs for fifteen years, Daniel.
I paid for Sophie’s education.
I paid for your first semester too — did you know that?”
“What?”
“Check your old bank statements.
There were deposits from an account in my name.
Mom told you it was from her.
It wasn’t.”
