More applause.
I felt the cold rage that had started to awaken become more intense.
The Stone family.
I was Margaret Ross. I had given them that name. But clearly, I was not included in this legacy.
Jennifer took the microphone from her brother’s hands.
“And to make this even more special,” she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes, “we want this investment to be something we all participate in.”
Then something happened that left me frozen.
Jennifer searched for me with her gaze among all the guests.
When our eyes met, her smile grew wider, but there was something in it that gave me goosebumps.
“Mom,” she said, pointing at me. “Why don’t you come up here with us?”
All the guests turned to look at me—fifty pairs of eyes watching while I remained seated, not knowing what to do.
“Come on, Mom,” Jennifer insisted. “Do not be shy.”
My legs barely responded, but I managed to stand. I walked toward the stage, feeling every gaze nailed into my back. I went up the steps carefully, my low heels making noise against the wood.
When I reached the top, Jennifer put an arm around my shoulders in a gesture that might seem affectionate to anyone who did not know our history.
“Look,” she said, addressing the guests. “Here is my mother, Margaret. After so many years, she is finally here with us.”
There was something in the way she said those words that sounded false—rehearsed.
Robert continued speaking.
“As I was saying, we want this house to be a family investment, and for that, we need all family members to contribute their share.”
My heart started beating even faster.
Where was all this going?
Christopher looked directly at me.
“Mom, I know Dad left you the house where you lived with him,” he said. “The house you sold a few years ago.”
I felt as if the ground moved beneath my feet.
How did he know that?
I had sold that house five years ago when maintenance became too expensive and I needed something smaller and manageable. With that money, I had bought my current apartment and had a small nest egg left.
“We have been thinking,” Jennifer continued, squeezing my shoulder harder than necessary, “that it would be wonderful if you could contribute with that money you have saved for this family investment. That way you would have a part of the beach house too. You could visit us there, spend time with your grandchildren.”
Everything connected in my mind like a macabre puzzle.
That was why they had invited me.
That was why, after twenty years of absolute silence, I suddenly received an elegant invitation to this party.
It was not because they missed me. It was not because they had finally realized they had a mother.
It was because they needed my money.
They needed the savings I had accumulated from the sale of the only property I owned—the house my husband and I bought together, where we raised our children, where we built a life.
“How much money do you have from that sale, Mom?” Christopher asked, as if he were in a business meeting and not talking to his mother in front of fifty strangers.
I could not speak. The words were stuck in my throat.
Robert intervened with a smile that pretended to be kind.
“Look, Margaret, I know this might take you by surprise, but think about it. It would be a way to secure your place in the family—an investment in your grandchildren’s future—and of course, you could use the house whenever you wanted. It would be your house too.”
Lies.
It was all lies.
I could see it in their eyes, in the way they avoided looking at me directly, in how Jennifer had let go of my shoulder and now kept physical distance even though we were on the same stage.
“We are putting in the majority,” Jennifer added. “But we thought you would want to be part of this. After all, it is your family.”
Your family.
Those words sounded hollow coming from someone who had not called me in twenty years. From someone who had closed the door in my face when I went to meet my grandson. From someone who had blocked my number, ignored my messages, returned my letters.
Christopher pulled out a folder he had prepared.
“I already have everything ready,” he said with professional efficiency. “We just need you to put your name here and here, and approve the bank transfer.”
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