Chapter 11 - Fiona’s Perfect Smile
Fiona arrived two hours later furious that we had called her.
“What is this, an intervention?”
I turned Margaret’s laptop toward her.
The promotional video was paused on her smiling face.
Fiona’s expression changed.
“Oh.”
“Yes,” I said. “Oh.”
She dropped into a chair.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Apparently nothing is a big deal when it belongs to me.”
“That’s not fair.”
I almost admired the reflex.
“Did you help David rent the lake house?”
“I made content.”
“For money?”
She hesitated.
“Commission.”
“How much?”
“Ten percent.”
Laura stared at her.
“You knew?”
Fiona snapped, “Don’t look at me like that. You live in his house, drive his car, and signed Mom’s paperwork. At least I knew what I was doing.”
Laura stood.
Margaret raised a hand.
“Sit down.”
They did.
For the first time in my life, I saw my children not as children, but as adults who had learned different ways to justify using me.
Michael stole because he was desperate.
Laura surrendered because she was afraid.
Fiona smiled because she thought charm made everything harmless.
I asked her, “Did you know about the forged signature?”
“No.”
“The false power of attorney?”
“No.”
“The plan to have me declared incompetent?”
Her face changed.
Laura saw it too.
“You knew that,” Laura whispered.
Fiona looked away.
My voice came out flat.
“What did David tell you?”
“He said you were getting forgetful.”
“I am not.”
“I know that.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because he said it was just planning ahead.”
“For what?”
She swallowed.
“A guardianship.”
Laura stood again.
“You knew he was trying to take control of Mom?”
“I didn’t think he’d actually do it!”
“That sentence followed us all day,” Margaret said. “Apparently nobody thought David would actually do anything until after he did it.”
Fiona started crying.
I did not move to comfort her.
Then Margaret’s receptionist called in.
“Ms. Shaw, I have Samuel Ortiz on line two.”
I froze.
Margaret pressed the button.
A man’s voice, older and rougher than I remembered, filled the room.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause.
Then Samuel said, “Richard told me this day might come.”
My children went silent.
“He left something with me,” Samuel continued.
“What?” I asked.
“A recording.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
“And Elena… David is in it.”
