secured the financial records. You can’t blame your daughter for those transactions.”
Everyone fell quiet.
Mother burst into tears.
Not for the families denied assistance.
Not because her son had forged my name.
But because influential people had witnessed her losing control.
“Claire,” she whispered when Olivia passed her the phone, “please. I’m your mother.”
I shut my eyes.
For twelve years, she’d wielded those words against me.
“And I’m your daughter,” I answered. “You should have treated me like one.”
I hung up.
The hotel canceled the unpaid banquet,
