David exhaled slowly.
“Why pay Jonathan?”
“Because he said Marisol was threatening to contact you.”
“So you paid him to keep her silent.”
“I paid him to verify her claims.”
“For sixteen months?”
“He kept finding new documents.”
“Did you ever see them?”
Eleanor’s silence returned.
David understood.
Jonathan had not only manipulated Maya.
He had manipulated Eleanor too.
Perhaps by promising to bury the past.
Perhaps by inventing new threats.
Perhaps by feeding on the fear that had ruled both women from opposite sides of the world.
David looked at his mother.
“You were being deceived.”
Relief flashed across her face.
Then David continued.
“But that does not excuse what you did.”
The relief disappeared.
“I know.”
It was the second honest answer she had given him.
David held out the building key she had once used.
“I need yours.”
Eleanor stared at his hand.
“I’m your mother.”
“And Maya is my wife. Liam is my son.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“An apology does not restore trust.”
Her fingers trembled as she removed the key from her purse.
She placed it in his palm.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“You cooperate with the investigation. You give Daniel every document Jonathan sent you. You do not contact Maya directly.”
“And you?”
“I need time.”
Eleanor nodded once.
Then she turned toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked back.
“David.”
He waited.
“Your father did not die the way you were told.”
The words settled between them.
“What was I told?”
“That he lost control of the car in the rain.”
“That’s what happened.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
David stepped toward her.
“What happened?”
But she opened the lobby door.
“I need to find the proof before Jonathan does.”
Then she disappeared onto the snowy sidewalk.
David returned upstairs with the key clenched in his hand.
Maya was sitting beside Liam’s bassinet.
She looked up when he entered.
“What did she say?”
David sat across from her and told her everything.
He did not soften the truth.
He did not defend his mother.
