“Wait here,”
he said.
“Keep Lucas safe. Lock the doors. Don’t let anyone in except me. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
Evelyn asked, fear in her voice. Nathan looked back at her. His eyes were hard and cold in a way Evelyn had never seen before.
“I’m going to visit my mother,”
he said. And for the first time in 8 years, Nathan was going to finally see the truth.
Nathan drove fast, too fast. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. He didn’t call his mother to tell her he was coming. He didn’t want to give her time to prepare, time to think of more lies. His mother, Patricia Cole, lived in a huge house on the rich side of town. The house had tall white columns in front like a palace. The lawn was perfectly green. The flowers were perfectly arranged. Everything was perfect on the outside. But Nathan now knew that inside, his mother was rotten. Evil.
He pulled into the driveway and slammed on the brakes. His car stopped with a screen. He got out and walked to the front door. He didn’t knock. He used his key. He still had a key from when he lived here as a child. The door swings open.
“Mother!”
Nathan shouted. His voice echoed through the big, fancy house.
“Mother, I know you’re here! Come out!”
He heard footsteps on the marble floor. High heels clicking, getting closer. Patricia appeared at the top of the grand staircase. She was wearing a cream-colored dress and pearls. Her hair was styled perfectly. She looked elegant and calm.
“Nathan, darling,”
she said with a smile.
“What a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming. Why didn’t you call?”
She walked down the stairs gracefully, like a queen descending from her throne.
“And why are you shouting? You know I don’t like shouting in the house. It’s so unrefined.”
Nathan stared at her. This woman. This woman who had raised him, fed him, hugged him when he was sad, read him bedtime stories, taught him to tie his shoes. This woman had destroyed her life.
“Evelyn is alive,”
Nathan said. His voice was quiet now, but he shook with anger. Patricia’s smile didn’t change even a little bit.
“I’m sorry, dear. What did you say?”
“You heard me,”
Nathan said.
“Evelyn, my wife. The woman you told me died 8 years ago. She’s alive.”
Patricia reached the bottom of the stairs. She walked past Nathan into the living room and sat down on an expensive white couch. She crossed her legs elegantly.
“Nathan, I think you need to sit down,”
She said calmly.
“You’re not making sense. Perhaps you’re working too hard. You look tired.”
“Of which,”
Nathan said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t try to make me think I’m crazy. I saw her. I talked to her. She’s alive. And she told me everything.”
Something flickered in Patricia’s eyes just for a second. But then the calm mask came back.
“Everything?”
Patricia repeated.
“What exactly is ‘everything’?”
“How you threatened her,”
Nathan said, walking into the living room.
“How you told her she wasn’t good enough for me. How you offered her money to leave. How you terrorized her when she was pregnant with my child.”
Patricia picked up a teacup from the table next to her and took a sip.
“That’s quite a story.”
“It’s not a story,”
Nathan said, his voice rising.
“It’s the truth, and you know it.”
Patricia set down her teacup gently. She looked at Nathan with cold eyes.
“Let’s say, hypothetically, that this woman you claim is Evelyn did tell you these things,”
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