I almost called out a greeting, but I heard her talking in the kitchen in that cheerful voice she only used when she thought no one was around to listen.
I stopped in the hallway because I did not want to interrupt her.
A moment later, I heard my own name. I glanced into the kitchen and saw her on the phone with her back to me.
“… just Stella. The second one sent me a weak text about how she could not show up.” She laughed. “I taught them perfectly, I promise you. They are so desperate for approval, they would burn alive just to give me heat.”
A moment of silence passed. Barely enough time for me to stop myself from yelling. Then came more laughter.
“Oh goodness,” she sighed. “I truly cannot process how in fifteen years, those twin idiots never guessed a single detail. I constantly wonder — why are they so gullible? Plus I tricked their sad mother too. She has no idea that—”
She paused abruptly and looked around the room. I quickly pressed myself back against the hallway wall.
“… that she has been yelling into an empty space for a decade and a half,” Amber finished. “I made sure neither of those kids ever saw those notes.”
Notes? Our mom had sent us messages?
“She simply needed to act stubborn,” Amber said with a breath. “It was quite simple to trick her into believing James intended to make her poor and take away her custody during their split. James mentioned at the office one time that she had dealt with deep sadness in the past, so I warned her he meant to lock her up in a mental hospital.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. Did those words mean what I thought they did? Had Amber planned my mother’s disappearance?
“Those mobile texts you helped me forge looked super believable. She fled, exactly as I expected she might, yet the mail began arriving twelve months afterward.”
I felt the urge to vomit.
But the most important thing was that I needed to find that mail!
“Sweetie, I need to hang up,” Amber said suddenly. “Yeah, it is Mother’s Day with my loyal kid. Wish me luck.”
I stared at the flowers in my hands. Then I glanced toward the kitchen doorway, watching Amber’s dark silhouette move across the tiles, humming a quiet tune.
And I realized, with complete calm, that this morning would not turn out to be the holiday she expected.
My knees nearly gave out, but I forced myself forward.
I walked straight into the kitchen wearing the biggest smile I could manage.
