Chương 6
Nobody moved.
The receptionist quietly walked away.
The guards looked toward the entrance.
Even the woman with the tablet lowered her device.
My mother wiped her cheek.
"You sound like me."
"I know."
That was the first almost-smile between us.
Almost.
Then Mr. Graves opened the blue folder again.
"There is something you both need to see."
My mother immediately shook her head.
"No."
"Elena."
"No."
Her voice became sharper.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
She looked at me.
Then at the photograph.
Then at the folder.
The fight left her face.
Not because she wanted to give in.
Because she knew she had run out of places to hide.
"Somewhere private."
Mr. Graves nodded.
He led us toward a conference room at the back of the building.
I followed behind them.
The hallway was quiet.
Too quiet.
I noticed little things because I did not know what else to do.
A plant near the elevator had a broken leaf.
A cleaning cart was parked beside a door.
Someone had left a coffee cup on a table with lipstick on the rim.
Normal things.
Things that reminded me the world was still normal somewhere.
Inside the conference room, my mother sat across from Mr. Graves.
I sat between them.
Neither of them looked comfortable.
Good.
They should not have been.
Mr. Graves placed the folder on the table.
"There are documents here from twelve years ago."
My mother stared at them.
"Don't."
"I have to."
"You don't have to do anything."
He looked at her.
"I should have done this years ago."
The room went quiet.
Then he opened the folder.
The first page was a legal document.
The second was a company record.
The third was something that made my mother stop breathing.
A hospital bracelet.
Small.
White.
With my name printed across it.
Ruby Ellis.
My mother reached toward it.
Then pulled her hand back.
"I kept that," she whispered.
Mr. Graves looked at her.
"No."
Her eyes lifted.
"I kept it."
He shook his head slowly.
"Then why was it in my office?"
My mother's face changed.
And that was when I understood something.
There were still secrets neither of them knew.
The room became smaller.
Not physically.
Nothing had moved.
But the air felt heavier after my mother saw the bracelet.
She stared at it like it was something dangerous.
"Where did you get that?" she asked.
Mr. Graves looked confused.
"I told you."
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
"Where did you get that?"
He leaned back slightly.
"Elena, it was in the storage box from the old office."
She shook her head.
"The old office was cleared out."
"I know."
"Then it shouldn't exist."
I looked between them.
The bracelet sat on the table.
A tiny piece of plastic that somehow made two adults who had spent years avoiding each other look afraid.
"What is happening?" I asked.
Neither answered.
I pushed the bracelet toward the center of the table.
"Someone tell me."
My mother covered her mouth for a second.
Then she looked at me.
"I thought I had lost this."
"Why?"
Her eyes moved toward the bracelet.
"Because it was the last thing I had from the day you came home."
The words made my chest tighten.
"Not the hospital?"
She shook her head.
"No."
That confused me.
"Why not?"
She looked at Mr. Graves.
And the way they looked at each other told me there was something they both hated remembering.
"Because you were not born in a hospital."
The room went silent.
I waited for the rest.
It did not come.
I hated waiting.
My entire life suddenly felt like a book with missing pages.
"Then where was I born?"
My mother looked down.
"Ruby."
"No."
My voice cracked again.
I hated that.
I hated feeling like a little kid when I wanted answers like an adult.
"I found a wallet."
I pointed toward Mr. Graves.
"I came here because I was trying to do the right thing."
My hand moved toward the photograph.
"And now I find out my entire life has a story nobody wanted to tell me."
I looked at both of them.
"I deserve to know."
My mother nodded slowly.
"You do."
Mr. Graves looked at her.
She ignored him.
"You do," she repeated.
For a moment, I thought she was going to tell me everything.
Then there was a knock on the conference room door.
The woman with the tablet stood outside.
"Mr. Graves."
He looked irritated.
"What?"
"Your attorney is on the phone."
"I don't need an attorney."
She hesitated.
"He says you do."
The words changed something.
Mr. Graves stood.
My mother immediately noticed.
"What happened?"
He looked toward the woman.
"Who contacted him?"
"Victor."
My mother's face went pale.
"Victor knows?"
Mr. Graves nodded.
"Apparently."
She closed her eyes.
For the first time, I saw fear on my mother's face.
Not worry.
Not stress.
Real fear.
"Who is Victor?" I asked.
Nobody answered quickly.
That was becoming a pattern.
Mr. Graves returned to his seat.
"Victor Hale used to be my business partner."
"Used to?"
"Yes."
My mother gave a small laugh.
"That's a generous way to say it."
Mr. Graves looked at her.
"He betrayed me."
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice became firmer.
"He betrayed all of us."
I looked at her.
"What did he do?"
My mother folded her hands together.
A habit she had when she was trying not to shake.
"Twelve years ago, Nathaniel was preparing to take control of Graves Energy from his father."
Mr. Graves looked uncomfortable.
"My father was sick."
"And Victor knew it," my mother continued.
"He knew Nathaniel was distracted."
She looked at me.
"He also knew I was working there."
"You worked there?"
My mother nodded.
"I was an accountant."
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
May you like
Because I could not imagine my mother in a giant company tower.
She spent her days now cleaning offices after people like Mr. Graves left them.
