Page 272 of Taken Away

The word was so soft that Aubrey almost didn’t hear it.

Bennett felt the moment it landed. Aubrey’s body went rigid.

Inside, Burke said, “Why?”

Anne’s shoulders rose and fell once.

“I wanted her to admit it.”

“Admit what?”

Anne’s eyes flashed.

“That she stole my life.”

Burke said nothing.

“She stole him first,” Anne said. “Then she stole Blackwood. Then she tried to steal my daughter and call it kindness.”

“She loved you.”

Anne laughed, raw and ugly.

“Loved me?”

“Everyone I’ve talked to says Mabel never stopped loving you.”

“Then they didn’t know her.”

“What did Mabel do when you got there?”

Anne stared at the photographs.

“She let me in.”

“Did she seem surprised?”

“No.”

Anne swallowed.

“No, she looked tired.”

“Tired?”

“As if she had been waiting for me to come and make trouble.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her I knew what she’d done.”

“With the will?”

Anne nodded.

“I told her she had no right.”

“What did she say?”