“If that is the ultimate consequence, then so be it,” I replied courageously. “But more importantly, you needed to hear this difficult truth directly from me rather than from a hostile stranger trying to extort us.”
Gabriel looked up, adjusting his glasses nervously. “Why couldn’t we just quietly continue paying her off to keep the peace?”
“Because paying her off would only be easier for one more month,” I explained patiently. “Then she would demand money for the next month, and the next, until I eventually pass away and she comes after the three of you.”
I reached out and placed my hands over theirs. “I refuse to hand you a legacy of fear and deceit the way your father handed it to me.”
Clara wiped her eyes with a tissue and reached across the table to squeeze my hand tightly. “You are doing the right thing, Mom,” she said softly. “It hurts terribly to hear this about Dad, but you are doing the honorable thing.”
PART 5: FREEDOM
The drive back down to Biloxi the next morning felt entirely different from my first trip. I was no longer traveling with a heavy heart full of confusion and fear; I was traveling as a free woman who had nothing left to hide.
