Chương 7
“But I found something else.”
“What?”
“There was an inquiry made using your company name six months ago.”
“By who?”
“I’m trying to confirm.”
“Can you find out?”
“Yes.”
Her answer was immediate.
Then she added, “But Paige, I need you to think carefully before you confront anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone knowingly used your information without permission, they may already be trying to protect themselves.”
I looked toward the window.
The gate was visible from there.
A reminder.
A boundary.
A decision.
“Grant admitted he gave someone an article.”
“That alone may not be illegal.”
“I know.”
“But if your information was altered, presented falsely, or used to create a false impression, that changes things.”
I closed my eyes.
The strange part was that I did not feel surprised anymore.
I felt tired.
Like my body had recognized the pattern before my mind accepted it.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“Can you check who requested the information?”
“I’ll try.”
After the call ended, I went to the workshop.
I needed movement.
Sitting still made memories louder.
Marcus was already there.
He looked up when I entered.
“You’re early.”
“I know.”
He glanced at the coffee in my hand.
“You sleep?”
“Not really.”
He nodded.
He did not ask why.
Instead, he handed me a folder.
“Customer from Vermont approved the restoration estimate.”
I opened it.
A normal business problem.
A normal business morning.
It felt almost offensive that the world kept moving.
Then I realized something.
That was exactly why I had survived.
The world kept moving.
So did I.
Around noon, Rachel called again.
This time, she did not start with my name.
“Paige.”
I stopped walking.
“What?”
“I found the inquiry.”
“Who?”
There was a pause.
“Your mother.”
I closed my eyes.
For several seconds, I heard nothing except the workshop machines in the background.
“She requested information?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
“That is harder to answer.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the request was not directly connected to a loan application.”
I frowned.
“Then what was it for?”
“Research.”
The word felt strange.
“Research into what?”
Rachel was quiet.
“Into your company.”
I gripped the phone.
“My mother researched my company?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Again.
That phrase.
But this time, I heard the difference.
Rachel truly did not know.
She was not avoiding.
She was investigating.
“Can you find out what she accessed?”
“I can find out what was requested.”
“And?”
“And Paige.”
“Yes?”
“You need to prepare yourself.”
My stomach tightened.
“For what?”
“I don’t know what she was looking for.”
A pause.
“But people usually don’t gather information about someone’s business unless they believe that information will be useful.”
After we ended the call, I stood alone in the middle of the workshop.
A craftsman nearby asked if I needed anything.
I shook my head.
“No.”
He nodded and returned to work.
Nobody surrounded me.
Nobody demanded an explanation.
Nobody told me how I should feel.
It was one of the reasons I had built this place differently from my childhood home.
Here, people were allowed to have problems without becoming problems.
That evening, Mallory called.
I almost did not answer.
Then I remembered the motel parking lot.
Her admitting she did not know where else to go.
I answered.
“Hello.”
“Paige.”
Her voice sounded exhausted.
“I need to tell you something.”
I leaned against the kitchen counter.
“Okay.”
“I found out why Grant needed your information.”
I waited.
“He was trying to get another investor.”
“Using my company?”
“Not exactly.”
“Mallory.”
She exhaled.
“He thought your success would make people trust him.”
I closed my eyes.
“And you knew?”
“No.”
The answer came fast.
Then slower.
“I knew he talked about you.”
“What does that mean?”
“He always said your business proved our family understood furniture.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“Our family?”
“Yes.”
“He built a company by talking about mine?”
“Paige.”
“No.”
My voice sharpened.
“No, Mallory.”
I walked toward the window.
“You don’t get to make this sound like a misunderstanding.”
“I’m not.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Silence.
Long enough that I knew she was deciding how much to give me.
Finally, she said, “Grant believed you would help him.”
The words settled heavily.
“Why?”
“Because Mom told him you would.”
There it was again.
My mother.
The person who had pushed me out.
The person who had spent years acting like I was unreachable.
Now she was telling everyone I was available.
“She told him what?”
Mallory swallowed.
“She told him you still felt guilty.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Guilty for what?”
“She said you blamed yourself for leaving.”
I laughed once.
Quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was unbelievable.
I had spent twelve years carrying the weight of what they did.
And somehow they had rewritten the story so I was the one who abandoned them.
“Paige.”
I heard the fear in Mallory’s voice.
Not fear of me.
Fear of what she was admitting.
“I think Mom thought if she reminded you of the past, you would do whatever she asked.”
I looked at the locked gate outside.
Then at the house.
Then at the life behind it.
The life nobody handed me.
The life I had fought for.
“Mallory.”
“Yes?”
“Your mother was right about one thing.”
“What?”
I looked around the kitchen.
The quiet room.
The place where I finally learned what peace felt like.
“She was right that I was different.”
A pause.
“I’m not nineteen anymore.”
Neither of us spoke.
Then Mallory whispered, “I know.”
And for the first time in twelve years, I believed she actually did.
And for the first time in twelve years, I believed she actually did.
That belief frightened me more than anger ever had.
Anger was simple.
Anger gave you distance.
Anger let you build walls and call them protection.
May you like
But believing someone had changed meant opening a door you had spent years reinforcing.
I did not know if I was ready for that.
