“Sophie —”
“She said you signed away custody willingly.”
Clara reached for her purse on the counter.
Her hand was steady now.
She pulled out an old envelope — yellowed, creased, held together with a piece of tape.
“Do you want to know what really happened?
Or do you want to keep believing her?”
Sophie didn’t answer.
Clara opened the envelope and placed three documents on the counter.
The first was a letter from Margaret, dated twenty-nine years ago.
Clara read it aloud:
“‘If you truly love Sophie, you’ll let me raise her.
You have nothing.
No husband.
No degree.
No money.
You’ll ruin her life the way you ruined your own.
Sign the papers.
She deserves better than you.'”
Sophie’s face changed.
The second document was a temporary custody agreement — signed by Margaret’s attorney, not Clara’s.
Clara hadn’t hired a lawyer.
Margaret told her she didn’t need one.
