Chapter 14 - My Mother’s Offer
Teresa looked smaller in the detention center conference room.
Not physically.
She still sat straight.
Still wore her hair neatly.
But the power around her had changed.
No house full of relatives.
No kitchen where she could order Amy around.
No family audience laughing at her insults.
Just lawyers.
A camera.
And me.
She stared at me for several seconds.
“You look tired.”
I almost laughed.
“You asked me here to discuss my sleep?”
Her attorney shifted uncomfortably.
Teresa ignored him.
“You’ve always been dramatic when you’re angry.”
“No.”
“I’ve always been quiet when I’m angry.”
“That’s why you got away with this for so long.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“There’s my wife talking.”
“Amy isn’t here.”
“She doesn’t have to be.”
“You sound exactly like her.”
I leaned back.
“Good.”
Teresa’s expression hardened.
Then she changed tactics.
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“Yes.”
“Forging my signature is a mistake?”
“I was protecting family assets.”
“Whose assets?”
“Connor.”
“Answer the question.”
She stared at me.
“You have more than you need.”
There it was.
The truth beneath everything.
My success had created entitlement.
Because I had more, she believed taking some wasn’t stealing.
“You wanted three hundred twenty thousand dollars against my house.”
“It was an investment.”
“You wanted my inheritance.”
“I wanted to grow it.”
“You created fake payroll accounts.”
“That wasn’t my idea.”
“Your recorded conversations say otherwise.”
For the first time, fear flashed across her face.
She hadn’t known we had all the recordings.
I saw the exact moment she realized Mason had given up the storage unit.
“You found the phone.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward her lawyer.
He whispered something.
Teresa shook her head.
“I want to speak to my son.”
“I’m listening.”
She leaned forward.
“I can make this easier.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell you where the rest of the money is.”
My attorney immediately spoke.
“Any offer needs to go through the prosecutor.”
Teresa ignored him.
“Connor, there’s more money.”
“How much?”
Her lawyer told her to stop.
She continued anyway.
“Enough.”
“Where?”
“Not until you help me.”
I understood.
Even here.
Even now.
Everything was a transaction.
“What do you want?”
“You tell the prosecutor you don’t want prison.”
“I don’t control sentencing.”
“You can influence it.”
“And then?”
“You stop Amy from making statements.”
My body went completely still.
“What did you say?”
“She’s exaggerating.”
I stood.
The lawyers reacted immediately.
I didn’t touch Teresa.
I didn’t raise my voice.
I simply looked at her.
“You just destroyed your last chance to hear me call you Mom.”
Her expression flickered.
“Connor.”
“No.”
“You threatened my wife.”
“You threatened my son.”
“You tried to steal our home.”
“You damaged my job.”
“And after all of that, you’re still sitting here blaming Amy.”
Teresa’s face twisted.
“She stole you from me!”
There it was.
Loud.
Raw.
Her lawyer closed his eyes.
I stayed standing.
“No.”
“I grew up.”
“I got married.”
“I became a father.”
“That isn’t theft.”
“You were supposed to take care of me.”
“I did.”
“For years.”
“I gave you money.”
“I trusted you.”
“You used both against me.”
She slammed her palm against the table.
“You think she loves you more than I do?”
I looked at her.
“This was never supposed to be a competition.”
Silence.
Teresa started crying.
Maybe the tears were real.
Maybe they weren’t.
For the first time, I didn’t care.
I picked up my father’s letter.
I had brought a copy.
I slid it across the table.
“What’s this?”
“Dad knew.”
Her face changed immediately.
“He warned me about you.”
She didn’t touch the letter.
“You don’t know what your father was like.”
“Maybe not.”
“But I know what you became.”
I walked toward the door.
Teresa called my name.
I stopped.
“You wanted to know where the rest of the money is.”
I turned.
She smiled faintly.
“There’s an account nobody found.”
My lawyer froze.
I looked at her.
“How much?”
Teresa whispered.
“Almost half a million dollars.”
Then she leaned back.
“And some of it already belongs to Frederick.”
That stopped me.
May you like
Because my son had never owned half a million dollars.
Which meant somebody else had been placing money in his name.
