Lorna brought it to me.
I fired the manager.
But the investigation revealed something else.
Maelis had been dating him.
Secretly.
Not only dating him.
She had borrowed money from him.
A lot.
He claimed she knew where the money came from.
Maelis denied it.
I believed her.
Lorna did not.
That created the break.
“She thought Mom was involved?”
Maeve asked.
“Yes.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the police investigated everything. She wasn’t charged.”
“But Lorna didn’t believe her.”
“Not at first.”
That distinction mattered.
After the scandal, Maelis resigned.
She and Lorna had a terrible argument.
Lorna accused her of recklessness.
Maelis accused Lorna of choosing the company over family.
Then Maelis left.
She moved away.
Changed her surname after marrying.
We knew she married, but communication ended quickly.
“Why didn’t Lorna find her later?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Two years after.”
Maeve looked skeptical.
“She never told me.”
“She found an old address. The letter came back.”
I had seen it.
I remembered Lorna sitting at the kitchen table with the envelope.
RETURN TO SENDER.
