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“Yes. My colleagues at the bureau believe your mom is their best chance to finally take the family down. She’s the only one that can testify about her relationship with Billy and what happened to their daughter, which will establish the Cadells knew about the dangers of TriCPharma drugs from the start. There’s a lot at stake, not just for the family, but for shareholders and the survival of the company.”
“What do you mean?”
“Billy is the current CEO of TriCPharma, which had a four hundred-billion-dollar market cap valuation last year, making it the fifteenth most valuable company in the world. His maintaining his position is critical to ensuring its stability. If your mom comes forward, he’s done.”
“But my mom might not even be alive,” I remind him.
“The agency got a tip. There was a confirmed sighting yesterday,” he says. “We’re trying to find her now.”
I gasp.
Mom really is alive?
Even after everything this week, it doesn’t feel real.
The tears start to come. Eddie puts his hand on my shoulder and smiles, knowing what this means to me.
My head is throbbing, not just because I cracked it on the pavement. I pick up the apple juice from the hospital tray in front of me, hoping it’ll help. My hand is shaking, so Eddie hands it to me, and I take a sip.
“I think Beatrice needs to get some rest now,” Eddie tells Paul over the phone.
“Okay,” Paul says. “I’ll let you guys know as soon I have more news.”
After we hang up, Eddie turns to me. “Once the Feds find your mom and explain everything to her, charges will finally be brought against Billy. He’ll be ousted from his position, and the company’s board members will want to move on, assuming TriCPharma can even survive. It’s just a matter of time before you can safely return home to Sarah and me. But most importantly, you’ll finally be able to reunite with your mom.”
“I can’t believe it,” I whisper. She’s been alive all this time. And she let me believe she was gone. After losing one daughter, she abandoned her second one. The pain is almost unbearable. I have so many questions. But I voice the easiest: “I wonder how Cristina found out she was alive.”
“I don’t know,” Eddie says. “I’m so sorry the Cadells hurt you, but things are about to change.”
I guess he didn’t ask the hospital staff why I’m here, or maybe they didn’t tell him.
He won’t understand why you haven’t been able to eat,ED tells me.I’m the only one that understands you. The only one that ever has. That’s why I never left you.
I look down at my pink gown and don’t say anything.
“You seem upset,” Eddie says. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise this is all good news.”
I still don’t say anything.
“Are you upset because of Sally?” he asks. “I’m sorry you were robbed of knowing your half-sister.”
It comes down to this. A choice I have to make—listening to ED, the monster who has stolen so much from me, who’s telling me to lie—or telling Eddie, the man I love, the man who deserves to know the complete truth about me, the real reason I’m here.
Even if the fairytale ending he just laid out happens, I know there will still be bumpy waters ahead. And I also know that if I don’t come clean, I’ll be tempted to keep restricting my food as I try to wade through them. Secrets always beget secrets.
The hammering in my head is reverberating. It’s not the concussion or the stitches. It’s ED’s voice and my own sparring.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I finally say. “Something I should’ve told you a long time ago.”
“Okay …” Eddie says.
“I was pregnant when I was married to my ex-husband.”
He looks at me, confused, not understanding what this has to do with our conversation.
“The eating disorder I dealt with in high school after losing my mom resurfaced during my pregnancy. I had a hard time eating because of hormones, and it snowballed. I was also scared I wouldn’t measure up as a mom.”
“Oh, Beans, you’re so great with Sarah. Any child would be lucky to have you as their mom.” He says the words with so much conviction that they sting. Because I know what I’m about to tell him will probably make him question everything he’s ever thought about me.
