The expensive dresses she bought me because my ordinary clothes embarrassed her.
Every gesture had arrived with an invisible invoice.
“You never gave me anything without expecting obedience,” I said.
“That’s a disgusting accusation.”
“Then tell me why there’s a document claiming I guaranteed forty-eight million dollars.”
She went silent again.
This time, I heard something new beneath her breathing.
Fear.
“Eleanor,” I said deliberately.
She hated when I called her by her first name.
“Clara, listen to me.”
“Did you sign for me?”
“Your interests and mine have always been connected.”
I looked down at my wedding ring.
“Not anymore.”
Her voice cracked.
“If those lenders begin investigating, they could destroy everything your family built.”
“Then you should have thought about that before putting my name on documents without my agreement.”
“You would let your own mother lose her home?”
The question struck an old nerve.
For twenty-nine years, I had been trained to respond whenever she sounded helpless.
