Chapter 8 - THE MONSTER WHO CALLED HERSELF MY MOTHERVictoria served pancakes.
Alone.
Rebecca and Denton were gone by then.
Not far.
Just unseen.
Maya remained upstairs.
That was not negotiable.
Julian walked through my front door and immediately looked around.
“Where is she?”
“Who?”
“Maya.”
“My wife.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Fine. Your wife.”
“Upstairs.”
“I need to speak to you alone.”
“We are alone.”
He paced.
For the first time since I came home, Julian looked terrible.
Unshaven.
Sweating.
Phone clutched in one hand.
“What did Mother do?” I asked.
“She moved fourteen million.”
“Thought the sale hadn’t happened.”
“It hasn’t.”
“Then what money?”
He stared at me.
And realized he had said too much.
I waited.
“Existing company reserves,” he admitted.
Fourteen million in reserves.
Money used for payroll, maintenance, insurance, emergency operations.
If Victoria stole it, eighty-seven employees could wake Monday to bounced checks.
“Where did she move it?”
“Three accounts.”
“Yours?”
“No.”
“Denton’s?”
“No.”
“Then hers.”
He sat.
“I can’t access them.”
I almost laughed.
“You helped her steal our company and you’re surprised she won’t share?”
He looked up sharply.
“Don’t start.”
“Why not?”
“Because Maya isn’t innocent.”
The lie sounded weaker now.
“She signed the documents.”
“You forced her.”
He froze.
There it was.
The moment the game changed.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did she tell you?”
“Enough.”
He stood.
“She’s lying.”
“Sit.”
“No.”
I stepped between him and the door.
I never touched him.
Didn’t need to.
Julian saw something in my face.
Slowly, he sat again.
“You put your hands on my wife.”
“I restrained her.”
“You shoved her.”
“She came at me.”
“She was pregnant.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Maya says you did.”
“She lies!”
His voice rose.
I stayed quiet.
Then I asked, “Did you know when she started bleeding?”
He looked away.
That was my answer.
Something inside me tore.
Not explosively.
Quietly.
The way rope fails after too much tension.
“You knew.”
“Mom handled it.”
“You knew.”
“She said the pregnancy probably wasn’t viable!”
I closed my eyes.
My hands shook.
I put them behind my back.
Years ago, an instructor told me rage makes you stupid.
I understood exactly what he meant.
“Did you take her to the hospital?”
“No.”
“Did Mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He said nothing.
“Because an ambulance creates records.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
“Doesn’t it?”
No answer.
“You were protecting yourselves.”
“I didn’t mean for her to fall.”
There.
Not confession enough for court perhaps.
But enough for me.
“Why touch her at all?”
“She threatened everything!”
“Our company?”
“My life!”
He jumped up again.
“You don’t understand what it’s like being you!”
I stared.
There it was.
Old resentment.
Finally stripped of excuses.
“Being me?”
“Captain Daniel Mercer. Responsible Daniel. Dad’s favorite. Grandma’s favorite. The war hero. The businessman.”
“Dad spent half his life disappointed in me too.”
“Not like me.”
“So you decided I owed you?”
“You had everything.”
“I worked for it.”
“And I didn’t?”
“No.”
The word hit him.
Good.
“You bounced from business to business while Mother rescued you. I sent you money. Dad sent you money. Even Maya helped you write that construction-company proposal.”
His jaw tightened.
“And you repaid her by beating her.”
“I shoved her!”
“Does that make you feel better?”
He looked down.
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Then Julian whispered, “Mom said she was taking what Dad should’ve left us.”
“Us?”
“Yes.”
“She stole from you too.”
He looked at me.
That landed.
I continued.
“The Hawthorne sale is twenty-eight million.”
His face emptied.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She said fourteen.”
“She lied.”
“No.”
“Denton confirmed it.”
Fear flooded his eyes.
“Charles talked?”
“Yes.”
Julian stood.
“You’re working with him?”
“I’m working to save what’s left.”
He paced again.
“You don’t know Mom.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“I’m learning.”
“No, you don’t understand. If she thinks Charles is talking…”
“What?”
He stopped.
“She has files on everyone.”
“Recordings?”
His face changed.
Now I knew Denton was right.
“You know about them.”
“She records meetings.”
“Where?”
“Her server.”
“Password?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
I moved closer.
“You want me to believe she trusted you with millions but not a password?”
“She never trusted me.”
The admission came quietly.
Painfully.
For the first time, Julian understood it himself.
Mother had never trusted anyone.
She used people.
Dad.
Me.
Maya.
Denton.
The Brennans.
And Julian.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Then I remembered my unborn child.
“What’s on the recordings?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“What do you know?”
He stared toward the stairs.
“Maya.”
I stepped forward.
“What about Maya?”
“That night.”
My body went cold.
“You saw the footage?”
“Part.”
“What does it show?”
He closed his eyes.
“Daniel…”
“What does it show?”
“Me grabbing her.”
I could hear my heartbeat.
“And?”
“She hits the wall.”
“And?”
“Mom yelling.”
“About?”
“She tells Maya to sign.”
“And then?”
Julian’s voice broke.
“Maya says she’s bleeding.”
The room tilted.
“You left her there?”
“Mom said if we called anyone immediately, they’d blame us.”
“So you waited.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
He whispered, “Three hours.”
Upstairs, something creaked.
I looked toward the staircase.
Maya stood there.
White-faced.
She had heard everything.
Julian stood.
“Maya—”
“Don’t say my name.”
He stopped.
Her voice shook, but she remained upright.
“You watched me bleed for three hours?”
Julian opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
“You stood there while I begged you to call someone.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I didn’t know what to do.”
“You knew enough to take my phone.”
He looked at the floor.
Maya descended one step.
“You knew enough to delete messages.”
Another.
“You knew enough to tell Daniel I was cheating.”
Another.
“And now you want sympathy because your mother stole from you too?”
Julian began crying.
Actual tears.
Maya stared at him.
“Save them.”
He covered his face.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
Her voice became steady.
“You’re sorry she betrayed you.”
That sentence destroyed whatever defense remained.
Julian sank onto the couch.
Maya turned toward me.
“Daniel, I want him gone.”
I nodded.
Julian looked up.
“Wait.”
“No.”
“I’ll give you the server.”
We both stopped.
“You said you didn’t know the password.”
“I don’t.”
“Then what do you mean?”
He reached into his pocket.
A key.
Small.
Black plastic tag.
“Mom keeps backups in a safety-deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Commonwealth Bank downtown.”
“Whose name?”
“Hers and mine.”
That mattered.
Rebecca could determine legal options.
“Why tell me?”
“Because if she’s setting me up, I need leverage.”
Maya laughed bitterly.
“Still about you.”
Julian flinched.
Yes.
Still about him.
But evidence does not require noble motives.
I took the key.
“Leave.”
“Daniel—”
“Leave before I remember you’re my brother.”
He stood.
At the door he looked back at Maya.
“I didn’t mean for you to lose the baby.”
She stared at him.
“You meant to frighten me.”
He said nothing.
“You meant to hurt me enough that I would obey.”
Silence.
“What happened afterward doesn’t erase what you intended before.”
Julian left.
The door closed.
Maya remained still.
Then her knees weakened.
I caught her.
She pressed her face against my chest and finally cried with sound.
Not quiet tears.
Not controlled breathing.
Grief.
Months of it.
For herself.
For our child.
Perhaps even for the family she thought she married into.
I held her carefully.
“I’m here.”
She gripped my shirt.
“I hate that I’m still scared.”
“You can be scared.”
“I hate it.”
“You don’t have to be fearless.”
She cried harder.
“You just have to keep choosing what happens next.”
After a long time, her breathing slowed.
Rebecca arrived twenty minutes later.
I showed her the key.
She stared.
“Safety-deposit box?”
“Joint access: Victoria and Julian.”
“If Julian gives written authorization, we may be able to secure it quickly.”
“He will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he finally understands Mother plans to sacrifice him.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Good.”
Maya wiped her face.
“What happens if the recording is there?”
Rebecca answered.
“If it clearly shows assault, coercion, and delayed medical aid, things change fast.”
“How fast?”
“Potentially arrest-warrant fast.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from Mother.
Daniel, your brother is unstable. Do not believe anything he says.
Then another.
He hurt Maya. I tried to stop him.
I stared at the screen.
Even now, she was rewriting the story.
Separating herself.
Preparing Julian for sacrifice.
Maya read the message.
“Send her one.”
“What?”
She looked at me.
For the first time since I came home, there was something stronger than fear in her eyes.
“Tell her you believe her.”
I understood immediately.
I typed:
I know, Mom. Julian told me enough. I think you were trying to protect everyone.
Rebecca smiled.
“That’s evil.”
Maya almost smiled too.
Mother replied within seconds.
Thank God. Come alone tomorrow. There are things about Julian you need to know.
I showed them.
Rebecca exhaled.
“She’s ready to bury him.”
Maya looked at the bruises on her arm.
Then at me.
May you like
“Let her talk.”
And on Sunday morning, I went to hear exactly how far my mother was willing to go to save herself.
