Chapter 15 - Mother's ConfessionMom stood at the top of the stairs.
She wasn't carrying a weapon.
She looked tired.
Broken, almost.
“I came to talk.”
I held the key.
“You're not taking this.”
“I don't want it.”
“You've lied too much for me to believe that.”
She slowly walked down.
“I deserve that.”
“Why did Dad make me the beneficiary?”
“Because he believed you were different.”
“Different from you?”
She nodded.
“He thought you couldn't be corrupted.”
I almost laughed.
“He didn't know me very well.”
“He knew you better than anyone.”
Mom sat at the kitchen table.
“Your father started Northbridge with good intentions.”
I stared at her.
“He said that too?”
“No.”
She looked down.
“I did.”
She explained that the company originally helped families keep their businesses.
Then money changed everything.
People began asking for favors.
Politicians.
Judges.
Developers.
And Dad realized he could control them.
“He became obsessed.”
“And you?”
“I became afraid.”
“So you stole.”
“I took what I thought belonged to us.”
“You took twelve million dollars from me.”
“I thought I could return it.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect Lucy.”
I looked away.
“Always Lucy.”
“That isn't fair.”
“It wasn't fair when I was twenty and working two jobs while she got everything handed to her.”
Mom stared at me.
“You think Lucy had everything?”
“Yes.”
“She had nothing.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Mom revealed something I never knew.
Lucy had a daughter before marriage.
A daughter who died as an infant.
Steve had never known how to handle it.
Lucy had been drowning emotionally.
Mom had spent years trying to protect her.
“She became vulnerable.”
“And Steve used that.”
“Yes.”
I sat down.
“So you controlled Lucy.”
“I saved her.”
“You manipulated her.”
Mom didn't answer.
Then she reached into her coat.
She placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my father, Steve, and another woman.
I recognized the woman.
Our family lawyer.
She had died five years earlier.
Mom said:
“She was the real mastermind.”
“The lawyer?”
“She created the shell companies.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dead.”
“Who killed her?”
Mom looked at me.
“Steve.”
The room went silent.
Then she whispered:
“And he wasn't acting alone.”
I stared.
“Who else?”
Mom's voice dropped.
“Daniel.”
I turned toward the hallway.
My brother stood there.
Pale.
He had heard everything.
“Jenny…”
I couldn't speak.
Mom continued.
“Your brother has been helping Steve for years.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Mom looked at him.
“You know it's true.”
He stepped backward.
“I had no choice.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Dad left me with nothing.”
Then he pulled something from his jacket.
May you like
A gun.
And pointed it at Mom.
