Chapter 5: The Daughter Martha Chose
Martha grabbed for the phone, but Celia slid it across the counter to me.
“Give me that,” Martha demanded.
“No,” I said.
“You’ve taken enough from my family.”
“That recording was made illegally.”
Celia folded her arms.
“You were in my mother’s dining room, telling us how you planned to deceive Hannah.”
Vivian sank into a chair.
“You told me she had already agreed to sell.”
“I told you what was necessary to protect our investment.”
“Our investment?” Celia asked.
“You used us.”
Martha pointed at her.
“You wanted Nick for years.”
“I had a schoolgirl crush.
You turned it into a business plan.”
“You said you would have married him.”
“When I was seventeen!”
Celia picked up a metal tool from beneath the counter and walked toward the oldest fitting room.
Martha blocked her.
“There is nothing behind that mirror.”
“Then you won’t mind if we look.”
“You have no right to damage my property.”
Rose joined Celia.
“The screws are on the frame.
Nothing needs to be damaged.”
Martha pressed her back against the mirror.
“Everyone leaves now, or I call the police.”
“Call them,” I said.
“I’ll show them the signature.”
For one long second, no one moved.
Then Vivian took out her own phone.
“I’m calling my lawyer’s senior partner.”
Martha’s voice softened.
“Vivian, think carefully.
If you stop this sale, you’ll lose the expansion site.”
“I would rather lose a building than buy one from a liar.”
Celia began removing the first screw.
Martha watched the frame loosen, then reached into her bag.
“Before you tear my shop apart, Hannah should hear something.”
She pressed a button on her phone.
My mother’s voice came through the speaker.
“Hannah, please stop looking for me.
I made my choice.
I don’t want to return.”
The room tilted around me.
Martha raised the volume.
“You wanted the truth.
There it is.”
“Turn it off,” Nick said.
But Martha played it again.
“I don’t want to return.”
My fingers opened, and the envelope fell from my hands.
Nick caught me against his chest.
“She didn’t want me,” I whispered.
Rose picked up the envelope.
“Hannah, listen to me.
That message has been cut.”
“You said you found her three weeks ago.”
“I did.”
“And you waited until my wedding to tell me?”
“I asked her to come.
She was frightened.”
“Of Martha?”
“Of you.”
That answer hurt more than the recording.
I pulled away from Nick and faced Rose.
“Why would my own mother be frightened of me?”
“Because Martha spent twenty years convincing her that you believed she was a thief.”
Martha held up the phone.
“Or perhaps Eleanor knows her daughter is better without her.”
I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
“Play the entire message.”
“That is the entire message.”
Celia crossed the room and took the phone from Martha’s hand.
“You sent me the original file last month,” she said.
“You wanted me to understand what would happen if Hannah asked questions.”
Martha froze.
Celia searched through her messages and pressed play.
My mother’s voice returned.
“Hannah, please stop looking for me until Rose says it’s safe.
I made my choice years ago because Martha threatened to take you away.
I don’t want to return only to lose you again.”
Martha lunged for the phone.
Vivian stepped between them.
“Don’t you dare touch my daughter.”
Celia handed the phone to me.
“I should have told you sooner,” she said.
“I was ashamed that I stayed quiet.”
“You came tonight.”
“I came because what Martha did at your wedding showed me she would never stop.”
Behind us, Rose and Nick lifted the mirror from the wall.
A narrow metal door appeared in the plaster.
Rose reached inside and drew out a weathered ledger wrapped in cloth.
Martha’s shoulders dropped.
Then my phone rang.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Rose looked at it and covered her mouth.
“Answer it, Hannah.”
I pressed the phone to my ear.
A woman drew a shaky breath.
May you like
“Hannah?” she whispered.
“It’s Mom.”
