“You lied to me,” I said in a cold, distant voice.
I knew she saw how potent my anger was when her face fell, and she backed up a step.
“Noah told you,” she whispered.
“Yes, he did,” I stated flatly.
“Listen to me, Estella. It’s not what you think.”
I advanced several steps until we stood toe to toe. Vee was much taller than me, but she was skin and bone. I was younger and stronger. I could take her in a fight.
“Isn’t it?” I said, tilting my head, my eyes narrowed to slits.
She swallowed visibly. “What’s come over you? You’re not yourself.”
Now I pushed her, and she fell back into the wall, cowering away from me. “Maybe I’m finally becoming who I was always meant to be. Maybe your cruel, vindictive lie made me snap, and that bitter, twisted side you said I have is finally coming out.”
She shrunk in on herself, and I felt a sick thrill to see her frightened. It was like I had a monster caged inside my chest, prowling back and forth as it snapped and bared its teeth. The monster purred, relieved to finally wield power over the person who held all the authority over me for so long.
“I didn’t want you to leave me,” she confessed, her voice weepy, and I froze.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” I hissed. “You hate me. You make me sleep in this tiny, shitty bedroom. You demean me and force me to do round the clock chores. You make me survive on next to nothing. You’ve made my life a living hell these past two years, so if you want me around it must be because you want a punching bag because I can’t see any other reason.”
“I loved your father,” she cried. “I loved him more than anyone.”
“Yes, you loved him, and you hated me because he loved me most. Is that why you decided to punish me? How twisted are you to lie about his will like that? You might as well have trampled all over his memory. I despise you, and I feel sorry for you,” I spat, grabbing my bag and stepping toward the door.
“Wait,” she cried, grabbing hold of my wrist. “I was going to give you money. I was going to give you a portion of the life insurance, but I didn’t anticipate I’d spend so much of it, and now there’s very little left.”
I paused, my forehead furrowing in confusion. “If that’s the case then why make up an inheritance? Why not just tell me you were going to share the insurance money with me?”
“Because I wanted you to think your father thought of you. I wanted you to have the peace of knowing he prepared for you to be taken care of if he died. I made up the part about you finishing school because I just wanted to keep you with me a little while longer.
“So, all of a sudden you want me around and care about my peace of mind?” I scoffed, at the same time a trickle of uncertainty pushed through. Was she telling the truth or was this another lie? Another manipulation to keep me under her roof and therefore, under her control?
“I didn’t want you to leave. You’re all I have left.”
“If I’m all you have left then why the hell do you treat me like I’m lower than dirt?”
“Because I want you to be tough,” she answered, desperation in her pale green eyes. “I want you to be a survivor. The world chews up women like us, women who are all alone. And look at you now. Look how strong you are. Your fury could burn this entire house to the ground.”
My heart skipped a beat because there was a ferocity in her gaze that made me feel like she was telling the truth. Was she? Had her treatment of me truly been some twisted version of maternal care? “You’re not alone, Vee,” I told her. “You have Sylvia and Noah. I’m the one who’s alone.”
“Noah will never stay here. He’ll be gone just as fast as he arrived. And Sylvia isn’t who you think she is. You’ve only ever known her to be sick and weak. She was a completely different person before her MS broke her down.”
I stared at her, my stomach churning. I sensed a truth coming. A truth I’d subconsciously chosen to remain oblivious to because it was easier. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that my mother is a vile, evil monster, and if anyone deserves a slow, torturous death, it’s her.”
“That’s not true,” I said, even while the veracity of her words hit home. For so long, I’d wondered how Noah could seemingly care so little for his mother. How he barely acknowledged her when they were in the same room. Vee was the same way, sometimes even outright callous. “Sylvia is one of the kindest people I know,” I said, my mind racing. I started to see things under a whole new filter.