She blinked away more tears, pushed her croissant aside, and waited for her mother’s answer.
“The honest answer, Kim, is I don’t know. I would hope that I would’ve, as one mother to another. But I’m done lying to you. I don’t know, and I’m not going to pretend that I do.”
They both sat there now. Hurt. Broken. Mom had been an empire, but now, by admitting to her imperfections, she’d turned to rubble. Soothing music played, and people laughed in muted tones all around them.
Life went on. People were born, died, lived somewhere, some place. The truth surrounded them. All the lies and fabrications were scattered about now, with no place to hide. No place to go. Their foulness was in full view, but perhaps, the truth was the ugly one, and the lies were pretty little things, tiny sparkling vampires with dazzling skin in the light of day, and thriving in darkness. If touched too hard with the rays of reality, they’d rip to shreds, too fragile to withstand the piercing light of the morning sun, too weak to live another day.
“Mom, what’s going on with the lawsuit?”
“My lawyer believes I will be okay. I’m not so sure.” She shrugged. “He believes I’ll have to pay some fines, but the court will have mercy on me, considering Veronica’s history, and the life you lived as a result of being in my and Mathew’s care. As you know, she claimed that when she saw your father on the news after his death, and the fanfare he received, it upset her so badly that she had to get the truth out. That she felt she’d been wronged, and wanted her daughter back. What no one knew was, she wanted money. Money for her silence. She’d called me.”
Kim’s blood ran cold.
“I refused. Called her bluff. My husband had just been buried, and here she was, her hand out after everything she’d done to you and her other children.” Mom shook her head. “She didn’t even ask me how you were, what you grew up to be, or how you were doing. Hell, she had no idea if you were living or deceased. It was all about her.”
Kim’s breakfast repeated, her tongue felt heavy, and her brain throbbed. Her anxiety climbed higher until it reached the top floor of the angst building, with spectacular rooftop views she hoped to never see.
It all made sense, now. Veronica had never reached out to her personally. Never asked to speak to her. Never requested a visit. Never sent a letter or an email. Certainly she knew she was alive and well once everything hit the fan. In fact, no one from that family had made contact. She’d wondered why. Now, she knew.
“Kimberly, in regard to my legal troubles, I need to make something perfectly clear to you.”
“Yes?”
“I would never want you to testify if you don’t want to, regardless of my guilt or innocence. I don’t want you in the middle of this whatsoever, and I’m angry that you’ve been harassed about getting on the stand. I’m working on that with my attorney so that you’re hopefully granted immunity. What I do want you to do is what is best for you. For you… and only you. If you decide to speak, I don’t want you to lie on the witness stand to save me. Tell the truth, as you see it. For thirteen years, I didn’t know you’d been adopted under false pretenses, and I feel that must count for something, but I knew later, which is your issue with me right now, and I understand. I suppose that’s bad enough.”
Mom sniffed and dabbed at her nose. “I will take my punishment, whichever way it comes. I may lose my license to practice law. I certainly hope not, but I’ll be fine either way. All I want is for you to be healthy and happy. You’re glowing. You do look healthy.” Mom smiled forlornly. “And even though we’re both sitting here with wet faces, you might be happy, too… I hope you are.”
“I am.”
“I’m sorry that I hurt you, Kimberly. I wish you’d waited and come to me before you boarded that plane. So much was happening so fast.” She sighed. “I’m not sorry for loving you and giving you a better life, but I am sincerely remorseful for how I handled this, and not allowing you the opportunity to live your truth. You’re right. I’m not God. I questioned His existence until I lost my husband, then my daughter. You’d think that would cause the opposite, but it didn’t. Not for me. I was knocked to my knees with grief. I prayed. I asked God, if He was real, to please find my daughter so we could mend our relationship. I’ve cried practically every day since you’ve been gone. My prayers were finally answered. Knowing you were safe and okay was the only thing to finally make the pain go away.”