Chapter 5
Sophie remembered Helena.
That surprised me.
Not from infancy.
From later.
“Grandma came to our apartment.”
I looked at Nora.
Her face changed.
“When?”
Sophie held up three fingers.
Not useful.
Nora crouched.
“Do you mean recently?”
Sophie nodded.
“Before Christmas.”
I looked at Helena.
She said nothing.
Nora stared.
“You came to my home?”
Helena sighed.
“I checked on them.”
Nora’s voice sharpened.
“You told me you had never seen Sophie since she was a baby.”
Helena looked at me.
Not Nora.
Another mistake.
“What did you want?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
Sophie walked toward her mother.
“She brought the red envelope.”
Nora froze.
“What red envelope?”
Sophie looked confused.
“The one you cried about.”
Nora sat slowly.
I waited.
Finally she whispered:
“There was an envelope under my door.”
Inside had been photographs.
Me at galas.
Me at dinners.
Me standing beside women from allied families.
Normal public appearances.
But Helena had arranged them to tell a story.
Roman alive.
Roman wealthy.
Roman celebrating.
Roman knowing Nora struggled and choosing not to care.
Nora stared at me.
“I found out you were alive from those pictures.”
My chest tightened.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“There was a note.”
Helena looked away.
“What did it say?”
Nora closed her eyes.
“If you disturb his life again, Sophie will lose more than money.”
Silence.
I looked at my mother.
She finally snapped.
“I was trying to stop a scandal.”
Nora laughed.
“There.”
Helena realized too late.
I stepped closer.
“A scandal.”
Her jaw tightened.
“The truth finally arrives.”
I looked at Sophie.
My mother had not been afraid Nora would hurt me.
May you like
She had been afraid the world would learn I already had a daughter.
The question was why that mattered enough to erase three years of our lives.
