Daniel closed the notebook.
He was trembling.
“I don’t have $130,000 to pay you.”
“I know.”
“I don’t even have 20,000 in savings.”
“I know that, too.”
“So what do you want?”
“The house.”
“Are you going to kick us out onto the street?”
And there it was.
The million-dollar question.
“I want,” I said slowly, “you to understand what you lost. It wasn’t just a house. It wasn’t just furniture or money. You lost your mother. You lost me.”
“I haven’t lost you. You’re right here.”
“When was the last time you asked me how I was? How I slept? If my back hurt from cleaning so much? If I missed your father? If I felt lonely?”
Silence.
“When was the last time you hugged me without it being in passing? That you sat down with me for coffee? That you really looked me in the eyes?”
More silence.
“I became a service, Daniel. Not your mother. And you let it happen.”
“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I know. But sorry doesn’t give me back three years of my life. It doesn’t give me back my dignity.”
I then took the USB drive out of my pocket.
I placed it on the table next to the notebook.
“What is that?” he asked, wiping his tears.
“Listen to it when you get home, but do it alone. Emily can’t be there.”
“Why?”
“Because if you listen to it together, you’ll end up getting a divorce tonight. And even though your wife made my life impossible, your children don’t deserve a broken home.”
Daniel picked up the USB drive as if it were a bomb.
“Mom, what’s on here?”
“The truth. Seventeen recordings of conversations where Emily talks about me when she thinks I’m not listening. Where she plans how to get rid of me. Where she makes fun of me with her friends.”
I saw his face crumble.
“Listen to it. All of it. And then you decide if you want us to meet at the notary’s office tomorrow with your wife present or if you’d rather we talk just the two of us first.”
He stood up, staggering a bit.
He grabbed the USB drive and the notebook.
“Mom, Monday at 10:00 sharp. At notary Selenus’s office. You decide who comes with you.”
