In the end, I slipped out through the staff exit. She came back the next day, and the next, and the next. On the fourth try, I decided it was time to end that too. Better to rip off the Band-Aid. She came into my office with red eyes, not from sadness but from anger.
“You destroyed this family,” she said before she even sat down. “You ruined everything. Are you happy now?” “I did?” I asked coolly.
“Vera filed for divorce. Russell won’t speak to me. Katie is hysterical and barely leaves her room. And all of this happened because of your petty revenge. You kept that secret for twenty years just so you could throw it in my face when it suited you.” I leaned back in my chair.
“Interesting. So this is all my fault.” “It happened twenty years ago, Alana,” she shouted. “It was in the past. Buried. Nobody at that wedding needed to know.”
“I was ten years old, Mom. Ten. You made me promise not to tell anyone. You told me Dad would leave and it would be my fault. Do you have any idea what kind of burden that puts on a child?”
“You should have kept quiet.” “And you should have told me my sister was sleeping with my fiancé. But apparently neither of us did what we should have done.” Her jaw tightened. I knew that look from childhood. It was the look she got when facts cornered her and she was about to switch to attack.
“I’ll sue you,” she hissed. “For slander. For ruining my reputation. I’ll hire the best lawyers in town.” I smiled. “Go ahead. But first get a DNA test for Katie. Then we’ll see who’s lying.”
Her face turned gray. All the bluster drained out of her. “You can go now, Mom,” I said. “I have nothing else to say to you.” She turned and walked out. She never came back. And I never saw her again.
Three long months later, my divorce was final….
