Page 90 of What Goes Around

A slow, cold anger unfurled in my chest.

My mother had left that money for me.

For the daughter she wouldn’t have the chance to raise.

For my safety, my education, my independence.

And Marissa had been draining it like it was her personal allowance.

Chapter 28: The Truth They Buried

The longer my uncles talked, the more pieces of my mother’s life, my real life, clicked into place.

Some pieces hurt.

Some made me furious.

And some changed everything I thought I knew about my father.

Marc cleared his throat.

“Ashley… there is more. Things you should know.”

“Tell me,” I said.

“After your mother died,” Étienne began, “most people believed your father was involved.”

They told me that after my mother was killed, suspicion spread like wildfire. Neighbors talked. Friends whispered. People crossed the street to avoid my father.

“But there was a reason,” Marc said carefully. “A reason the whispers grew so fast.”

My stomach tightened.

“They had a… difficult week before her death,” he continued. “A terrible week.”

Because a week before she died, my mother discovered he was cheating.

With his secretary.

“Ines had been receiving anonymous hints for months,” Étienne said. “Emails. Notes. Little messages. But she never believed them. She thought she and Brandon were solid. More in love than ever.”

He gave a helpless shrug.

“She had been on bed rest for the last three months of her pregnancy. Brandon took care of her every day. He brought her flowers, meals, and stayed by her side constantly. We adored him. Everyone did. He seemed to worship her.”

My mother trusted him blindly.

“The secretary got impatient,” Marc said bitterly. “She wanted to be acknowledged.”

“She sent a picture.” Étienne added.

“A picture?” I echoed.

“A pregnant belly,” he said. “With a date and time. ‘Come if you want the truth.’ Something like that.”

My stomach twisted violently.

“Ines went,” Marc said. “She found your father and the other woman together at an OB-GYN appointment.”