Then two.”
“And meanwhile you let me struggle.”
“I helped when I could without exposing the truth.”
“
The lunches.”
“Yes.”
“The extra Christmas bonuses.”
“Yes.”
“The time my rent was suddenly reduced for six months?”
Margaret looked down.
I stared.
“That was you?”
“Yes.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I began crying.
“Do you understand how humiliating this feels?”
She nodded.
“I deserve that.”
“I thought everything I survived was because I had nobody.”
“You survived because of yourself, Carly.”
“No.
Apparently, people were moving pieces around behind me my entire life.”
Margaret flinched.
That was when Evelyn spoke.
“There’s something else.”
I turned toward her.
She looked sick.
“What now?”
“Dad’s estate.”
Harold’s.
My father’s.Get Parenting Tips
“He left almost everything to Mom,” Evelyn said.
“I don’t want it.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“Then what is?”
Evelyn took a breath.
“Legally, if you can prove paternity, you may have a claim.”
“I said I don’t want it.”
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“Harold established a trust years
ago.
It has a clause covering any biological child proven after his death.”
Margaret nodded.
“I found it only recently.”Learn a Language
My chest tightened.
“How much?”
Neither answered.
“How much?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Approximately eleven million dollars.”
I actually laughed.
