Chapter 6: She Came on a Sunday
She came on a Sunday morning.
I heard the car in the driveway just after nine.
Nathan was already up, sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee he hadn't touched.
He'd slept badly.
I'd heard him get up twice in the night.
"She's here," I said from the window.
He didn't move for a moment.
Then he stood, carried his mug to the sink, and rinsed it out.
Something to do with his hands.
The doorbell rang.
He went to answer it.
I stayed in the kitchen doorway.
Angela stepped inside wearing a coat I hadn't seen before, her hair done, her composure fully rebuilt.
She looked like she was arriving for Sunday lunch, not a confrontation.
"Thank you for letting me in," she said to Nathan.
"Of course."
She followed him to the kitchen.
She saw me and gave a small, tight nod.
I nodded back.
"Sit down, Mom."
She sat.
Nathan sat across from her.
I stayed standing near the counter.
"I want to talk about what happened the other night," Angela said.
"I want to apologize."
Nathan waited.
"I shouldn't have thrown away the food.
That was wrong of me.
I was frustrated and I acted badly." She folded her hands on the table.
"I'm sorry."
"Thank you," Nathan said.
A pause.
"But that's not why you're here," he said.
Angela's composure held.
"I'm also here because I'm worried.
Margaret has always caused trouble in this family.
Whatever she told you—"
"She showed me documents, Mom.
Dad's letter.
The bank records."
"Letters can be written by anyone.
And bank records show transactions — they don't explain them."
"Then explain them."
She looked at him.
"Your father was very ill at the end.
There were decisions that needed to be made quickly.
I made them.
Everything I did was to protect what we'd built together."
"You closed an account with sixty thousand dollars in it eleven days before he passed.
While he was in the hospital."
"I moved that money."
"Where?"
"Into accounts that needed to be managed.
Estate planning.
There were taxes, Nathan.
There were fees.
You don't know how complicated it was."
"I'd like to know.
Show me the accounts."
A small hesitation.
Almost invisible.
"I'd need to gather the paperwork."
"How long would that take?"
"A few days."
"Okay," Nathan said.
"A few days."
Angela relaxed slightly.
She had expected more resistance.
"I also want to talk about Margaret's history," she said.
"Before you trust anything she's told you, you should know that she st*le from your father.
From a shared account.
Years ago."
"She told me."
Angela stopped.
"She told you herself?"
"Yes.
She told me the full story.
Including that she paid it back.
Including that Dad forgave her."
Angela's hands shifted on the table.
"She's framing it in the most favorable way possible."
"Maybe.
But she told me before you did.
Without being asked." Nathan looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?
You've known for years."
"I was protecting your father's memory."
"Or you were saving it."
The word landed.
Angela's chin came up.
"I have given my entire life to this family.
I have sacrificed things you will never know about.
And this is what I get — my own son, sitting across from me, treating me like a suspect."
"I'm not treating you like anything.
I'm asking questions."
"With a lawyer involved.
Don't think I don't know about Diane Cho."
"You have your own attorney."
"Because I had to protect myself." Her voice cracked — just slightly, just enough.
"Nathan.
I'm your mother.
Whatever mistakes I made, I made them for you.
Everything I have will come to you.
It has always been for you."
Nathan was quiet for a moment.
"What about Margaret's share of the house?" he said.
"Dad wanted her to have half."
"Your father wasn't well when he wrote that."
"He had it witnessed."
"By people I don't know, whose names I've never heard."
"The witnesses are on record.
Diane has already verified them."
Angela stood up.
"I'm not going to sit here and be interrogated." She pulled her coat tighter.
"I came to apologize and to talk to my son.
Not to be cross-examined."
"Mom—"
"Call me when you've come to your senses." She picked up her purse.
"And tell that woman to stay away from my family."
She walked out.
The front door closed behind her.
Nathan sat at the table without moving.
I came and sat across from him, in the chair Angela had just left.
"She didn't bring the paperwork," I said.
"No."
"She never intended to."
"No." He looked at the table.
"She said everything will come to me.
She's never said that before.
Not like that."
"She's scared."
"She's calculating." He picked up his phone.
"I need to call Diane."
He dialed.
I got up to check on the kids.
I was halfway down the hallway when I heard him say, "Diane.
She came.
She mentioned the accounts but said she'd need a few days to gather paperwork." A pause.
"She knows about you." Another pause.
"Yeah.
I think she's going to try to move something."
May you like
I stopped walking.
He said, "How fast can we file?"
