This house was paid off 15 years ago. Marcus frowned. That’s not possible. I write a check every month to a bank account your wife set up. I finished for him. Harold Peterson explained it all to me when I had him research the mortgage payments. quite creative, actually. ” The silence that followed was deafening.
I could see Marcus’ mind working
I could see Marcus’ mind working, processing what I just said, trying to make sense of it. Rya, meanwhile, looked like she might be sick. “That’s not,” she started, then stopped. ” “I understand perfectly,” I said calmly. I understand that you’ve been stealing from your own husband while treating me like hired help in my own home.
I understand that you convinced my son to pay for a mortgage that doesn’t exist while you humiliated me at my own table. Marcus was staring at Rya now and she was staring at the ground. The pieces were falling into place for him and I could see the moment when he understood the full scope of what had been happening. Rya, he said quietly. Is this true? She looked up at him, her eyes wide and desperate. Marcus, you don’t understand. I was trying to help. I was saving the money for us, for our future. You were stealing, he said flatly. From me? From my mother.
I wasn’t stealing. Rya’s voice rose to a near shriek. I was protecting our interests. Your mother doesn’t need this house. She’s old. She should be in a retirement home anyway. We’re young. We have children. We deserve.
he stopped abruptly, realizing what she just said
She stopped abruptly, realizing what she just said. But it was too late. The words were out there hanging in the air like toxic smoke. Marcus looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. We deserve what, Rya? To steal from my mother? To treat her like a servant in her own home. That’s not what I That’s exactly what you meant. His voice was cold now. Colder than I’d ever heard it. You thought you could push her out, take over her house, and she’d just what? Disappear? Rya’s composure cracked completely. She spun toward me, her face twisted with fury. This is your fault. You turned him against me. You’re a bitter old woman who can’t stand to see other people happy. I looked at her for a long moment.
