Then she froze.
Her eyes locked onto one handwritten date.
Mom’s face went pale.
Without saying anything, she pushed back her chair and walked toward her bedroom.
Seconds later, she returned holding a small brass key.
Melissa immediately stood.
“Mom, don’t.”
Mom ignored her.
She walked into the bedroom and knelt beside the locked bottom drawer of her dresser.
Melissa rushed forward.
“Don’t open that!”
I caught her by the arm.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Amanda, stay out of this.”
“You just tried to stop Mom from opening her own drawer.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
Then Mom looked up.
“Melissa.”
There was something in her voice that made both of us stop.
She unlocked the drawer.
Inside were old folders, envelopes, bank statements, and a checkbook.
Nothing looked particularly dramatic.
Mom pulled out one folder.
“Here.”
I opened it.
The first document showed a bank transfer from fourteen years earlier.
The amount immediately caught my attention.
$35,000.
