Chapter 5: The Plan To Erase My Mother
The words stayed in the air long after Attorney Miller stopped speaking.
*Declared mentally incapable.*
I looked at Wendy.
She was standing across the room, watching me carefully.
Not with guilt.
Not with regret.
With calculation.
Like she was trying to figure out exactly how much I knew.
“Luca?””
Attorney Miller’s voice came through the phone.
“Are you still there?””
I forced myself to answer.
“Yes.””
“Did you hear me?””
“Yes.””
“Your brother contacted my office asking about guardianship procedures.””
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Guardianship?””
“Yes. Specifically, he wanted information about taking control of your mother’s financial decisions.””
I looked toward the hallway.
My mother was asleep upstairs.
Or trying to sleep.
While people around her were quietly planning how to take away the last pieces of independence she had.
“Did he mention why?””
Attorney Miller paused.
“He said your mother’s condition was getting worse.””
A bitter laugh escaped my mouth.
“Her condition?””
I looked at the kitchen.
At the pantry door.
At the lock.
“At the same time she was being starved.””
The attorney went silent.
“Luca, what are you saying?””
I walked away from Wendy and lowered my voice.
“I’m saying my mother wasn’t confused.””
I looked at the recorder on the table.
“She was being controlled.””
There was a long silence.
Then Attorney Miller spoke carefully.
“Do you have evidence?””
“Yes.””
“What kind?””
“Enough.””
I looked back at Wendy.
“And I’m getting more.””
After the call ended, Wendy didn’t say anything.
That worried me more than if she had screamed.
The Wendy I knew always had an answer.
A perfect explanation.
A reason why something was someone else’s fault.
But now?
She was quiet.
I walked toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?””
Her voice finally came.
I stopped.
“To check on my mother.””
“You’re really going to do this?””
I turned around.
“Do what?””
“Destroy our marriage because of one recording?””
I stared at her.
“One recording?””
She swallowed.
“I didn’t mean it like that.””
“No?””
I stepped closer.
“You hurt her.””
“I lost my temper.””
“You pushed her.””
“I didn’t mean for her to fall.””
The words left her mouth too quickly.
And the moment she realized what she had admitted, her face changed.
I froze.
“You just admitted it.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
“You’re twisting my words.””
I shook my head.
“No, Wendy. For once, I’m hearing exactly what you’re saying.””
She looked away.
Then her expression hardened.
“You think you’re better than me?””
The question surprised me.
“What?””
“You leave me alone with all the responsibility. You travel. You work. You come home and judge me.””
I stared at her.
“Responsibility?””
“Yes.””
Her voice rose.
“You have no idea how difficult it was.””
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“My mother was eating scraps.””
“She was being difficult.””
“My mother had bruises.””
“She was fragile.””
“My mother was afraid of you.””
Silence.
A heavy silence.
Then Wendy whispered:
“She always hated me.””
I looked at her.
There it was.
The excuse she had been building for months.
“She never accepted me.””
I shook my head.
“That’s what you tell yourself?””
“It’s true.””
“No.””
My voice became colder.
“My mother tried.””
I remembered every holiday.
Every dinner.
Every small gift my mother bought Wendy.
The scarves.
The handwritten birthday cards.
The flowers from the garden.
“She defended you.””
Wendy looked confused.
“What?””
“When my friends questioned our marriage, she defended you.””
I stepped closer.
“When my uncle said you only cared about money, she told him he was wrong.””
Wendy’s face changed slightly.
I continued.
“She wanted to believe you loved me.””
The room became silent.
“And you used that.””
For the first time, Wendy looked away.
That night, I moved my mother into a hotel.
Not because she wanted to leave.
Because I needed to get her somewhere safe.
When I told her, she immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“Mom.””
“I don’t want you fighting because of me.””
“This isn’t because of you.””
She looked at me sadly.
“It is.””
I knelt beside her.
“Listen to me.””
She looked at me.
“You spent your whole life protecting me.””
Her eyes filled.
“Now it’s my turn.””
She touched my face.
“You were always a good boy.””
I smiled sadly.
“I’m not a boy anymore.””
“No.””
She whispered.
“You’re my son.””
I helped her pack a small bag.
She had almost nothing.
That hurt too.
A woman who spent decades building a home had a life that fit into one suitcase.
While Wendy had closets full of designer clothes.
The next morning, Attorney Miller arrived.
He brought another attorney with him who specialized in elder protection.
My mother sat at the dining table.
For the first time in weeks, she looked calm.
Wendy stood near the stairs.
Watching.
“You brought lawyers into my house?””
I looked at her.
“Your house?””
Her face tightened.
“I mean our house.””
“No.””
I looked around.
“This is my mother’s house.””
Ethan arrived twenty minutes later.
He walked in confidently.
Then stopped when he saw the attorneys.
“What is this?””
I smiled.
“Funny.””
“What?””
“Yesterday you were asking how to remove my mother from ownership.””
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
Attorney Miller placed a folder on the table.
“We have documentation showing your inquiry.””
Ethan looked at the folder.
Then at me.
“You went through my things?””
“No.””
I answered calmly.
“You left a trail.””
He became angry.
“You think you understand everything?””
“I understand enough.””
He pointed at my mother.
“She can’t manage this property forever.””
My mother looked down.
I felt my anger rise.
“You don’t get to decide that.””
“I’m her son too.””
“And yet you helped someone hurt her.””
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not what happened.””
I placed the recorder on the table.
His face went pale.
Wendy immediately stepped forward.
“Luca, don’t.””
Everyone looked at her.
The room went silent.
Because that was the first time she had sounded afraid.
Attorney Miller noticed.
“What is on that recorder?””
I looked at Wendy.
Then at Ethan.
“The truth.””
I pressed play.
The room filled with their voices.
Everyone listened.
Every lie.
Every plan.
Every cruel sentence.
When the recording ended, nobody spoke.
My mother covered her mouth.
Ethan looked defeated.
Wendy looked furious.
Then suddenly, she smiled.
It was a strange smile.
A confident smile.
Like she had remembered something.
“You think this changes everything?””
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?””
She walked slowly toward the table.
“You think you have won because you found a recording?””
Her eyes moved to my mother.
“You have no idea what’s coming.””
Attorney Miller frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
Wendy reached into her purse.
Pulled out an envelope.
And placed it on the table.
“This.””
Nobody moved.
I looked at the envelope.
“What is that?””
Wendy smiled.
“The reason your mother will lose everything anyway.””
My mother’s face went pale.
She recognized the envelope.
And then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Luca…”
“What?””
Her voice shook.
“That’s the document Wendy forced me to sign before I fell.””
I stared at the envelope.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Because I realized something.
The recording proved what Wendy did.
But this document might reveal what she planned to do next.
I reached for the envelope.
But before my fingers touched it, Wendy said:
“Be careful.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
May you like
Her smile disappeared.
“Because your mother didn’t tell you the whole truth about that house.””
