Chapter 9 - Mom's Ultimatum
That evening, I returned to my flat, longing for quiet. The buzz of the press conference still hummed in my ears, but inside my home, I wanted peace.
I stepped out of the elevator onto my landing and stopped dead.
Mom was sitting on the carpeted floor beside my doorway, her designer handbag clutched against her chest like an armor plate. Her makeup was streaked, her hair disheveled. She looked twenty years older than the imperious matriarch who had commanded me to kneel in Bath.
"Maya," she gasped, scrambling clumsily to her feet.
"What are you doing here, Eleanor?" I asked, refusing to call her Mom.
"You have to stop this," she begged, lunging forward to grab my forearms. Her fingers dug through my coat sleeve. "The police came to the Surrey house this afternoon. They have a warrant for Sophie’s laptops! They’re talking about criminal charges, Maya! Wire fraud! Tax evasion!"
"Sophie broke the law," I said coldly, stepping back to break her grip. "She stole my identity to hide her money. She brought this on herself."
"She’s your sister!" Eleanor cried, her voice echoing down the apartment hallway. "Sisters don't send sisters to prison! You have to go to the police and tell them it was a misunderstanding! Tell them you gave her permission to use your name! Tell them you co-founded the company!"
I stared at her in disbelief. "You want me to commit perjury? You want me to confess to a felony to save the daughter who tried to frame me?"
"You can take the fall, Maya!" Eleanor pleaded, completely unhinged, tears streaming down her hollow cheeks. "You don't have a public profile! You’re just a writer! Sophie has a brand! Her life will be destroyed if she has a criminal record! If you love me—if you ever loved this family—you will do this for her!"
The sheer monstrosity of her words hung in the narrow hallway like poison gas.
There was no hidden affection waiting to be unlocked. There was no deep maternal instinct that had simply been clouded by circumstance. To Eleanor Bennett, I had never been a child. I had been a spare part, an emotional organ donor to be harvested whenever Sophie needed sustenance.
"Look at me, Eleanor," I said, my voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly calm.
She blinked, sniffling, caught off guard by my tone.
"I am never going to protect Sophie again," I told her, enunciating every syllable. "I am never going to apologize for existing. I will testify against her in court. I will hand over every email, every bank statement, and every scrap of evidence I possess. And if you ever come near my home again, I will take out a restraining order against you."
"You... you monster," Eleanor hissed, her expression twisting into pure hatred. "You heartless, selfish monster."
"Goodbye, Eleanor."
May you like
I unlocked my door, stepped inside, and shut it firmly in her face. Through the heavy wood, I heard her pounding her fists against the paneling, screaming obscenities until the building superintendent’s heavy footsteps echoed up the stairs, forcing her to flee into the night.
***
