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Three days later, something unexpected happened.
My mother found me in the kitchen early in the morning.
She was wearing a simple cardigan.
Her hair was tied back.
She looked peaceful.
“Maya?”
“Yes?”
“I need to tell you something.”
I turned around.
She looked nervous.
“What is it?”
She sat down.
“I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Derek didn’t own the house.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She smiled sadly.
“I knew you bought it.”
“How?”
“You told me.”
I frowned.
“When?”
“About a year ago.”
I tried to remember.
Then it came back.
A quiet afternoon in Pinehaven.
I had visited her after a business trip.
I had told her I was buying something.
Something important.
She had asked why I wasn’t telling Derek.
And I had said:
“Because I need to know whether he loves me without knowing what I can give him.”
My mother looked at me.
“I didn’t want you to think I was judging your husband.”
I sat beside her.
“Mom, you were right.”
She shook her head.
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“No.”
She took my hand.
“I should have told you what happened before.”
“What happened?”
She looked toward the window.
“Derek wasn’t the only person who treated me badly.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
She hesitated.
Then she told me something that changed everything.
Two weeks before my arrival, Marjorie had taken her into a private room.
She had told my mother that I was becoming arrogant.
She had said I was forgetting my roots.
Then she had made a proposal.
“If you convince Maya to put the company into Derek’s name,” Marjorie had said, “everything will become easier.”
My mother refused.
Marjorie threatened her.
She told Evelyn that if she didn’t cooperate, she would make sure Maya never allowed her to visit Noah again.
My mother’s voice trembled as she told me.
“I didn’t tell you because I was afraid.”
I hugged her.
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want to destroy your marriage.”
I closed my eyes.
“It was already destroyed.”
Then another thought struck me.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“Why did Marjorie think Derek could control my company?”
My mother looked at me.
“Because Derek told her you had signed something.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He said you had promised to transfer control.”
I stood up.
“I never signed anything.”
My mother looked frightened.
“Maya…”
I immediately called my attorney.
And within an hour, I discovered something disturbing.
Someone had attempted to create documents transferring shares from my company.
The signatures were fake.
But they were good enough to fool someone who wasn’t paying attention.
And the person who had requested the documents?
Derek.
Suddenly, the argument about my mother’s cooking wasn’t the real reason my husband wanted me to come home.
There had been a much bigger plan.
He hadn’t simply wanted my money.
He had been trying to take control of my company.
