Page 81 of Single Mom's Undoing
The sound of heels clicking across the stone floor of the garden terrace makes me turn my head. It’s Margot coming toward us. Her dark green dress clings to her slim figure, her hair a glamorous mess, but there are dark shadows under her eyes.
“When Dad told me you were here, I thought he was crazy,” she gasps. “I guess the old man went all the way, huh? Whatever it takes for family.”
I stand up to keep us out of Matty’s earshot. “You’ve got to help us,” I tell her. “Margot, he’s holding Matty and me hostage. We’re not allowed to leave. There are people with guns here, watching us. You have to tell Carter.”
“Clara, I’m not getting involved in whatever this is,” Margot replies, but the strain in her voice reveals her doubt. “I just stopped by to talk to my father, and he mentioned you and Matty were here. It’s not my place to intervene.”
“Margot, are you not hearing me? Your father is holding my son and me against our will. He had us kidnapped from Baker City as we were leaving for the hospital for Matty’s surgery. He’s threatened my life more than once.”
I glance back to make sure Matty is still involved with his sandcastle. He is, thankfully, completely oblivious to our conversation, whereas Margot seems to be working overtime to appear as though she doesn’t care.
“Not my circus, not my clowns,” she says. “Besides, you’d be an idiot to refuse his support. Matty will get the best care for his heart condition, just like I did.”
“I’m not sure you’re hearing me,” I try again, then pause, wondering if she’s even aware of the full story. “Hold on, Margot. What did Bill tell you about us, about why we’re here?”
“He said he took matters into his own hands because he couldn’t stand to watch you fail to keep your son, my nephew, safe and healthy,” she replies. “My father might come across as forceful sometimes, but he does have Matty’s best interest at heart.”
I exhale sharply and take a step back, wondering if Bill thought things through when he told Margot that we were here and being held against our will. Is she really going to believe that he’s trying to save my son while making me out to be the villain?
“Forceful,” I mumble. “He had me drugged and thrown into the back of a car. My son was scared out of his mind. And it happened just as I was taking Matty to the hospital for his procedure.”
“I doubt it was that dramatic, Clara.”
“Margot, wake the fuck up,” I hiss, hoping Matty didn’t hear me. “He wants me to leave Matty behind. To let your family raise my son without me. Have you people lost your goddamn minds? Carter would never allow it, nor would I ever willingly do it.”
“Didn’t you run away from him again? With his son?”
Oh, I could slap the life out of this woman, even though she’s not wrong. I did run away from Carter, but not on a whim. And then it hits me: a conversation we had not that long ago, a moment when I realized that Margot had no idea of the truth behind Stephan’s death. I quickly connect the dots as I take a deep breath and go for the biggest gamble of all.
“Do you know why I ran away the night Stephan died?” I ask quietly, my voice trembling with emotion.
Margot gives me a startled look. “What does that have to do with any of this?”
“It has everything to do with it, with who your father really is. He killed Stephan, Margot.”
Her eyebrows pop up before hysterical laughter follows. It’s a natural reaction, given my statement. “You’ve lost your damn mind to think that you can turn me against the only man who’s always stood by me, Clara.”
“I was there,” I tell her. “Stephan and I were meeting at Mondy’s Diner that night. I saw him pull into the parking lot. Then I saw him look down at his phone. We were supposed to talk; I was going to help him end things with you for good, but then he suddenly left, so I followed him.”
“Clara…” She shakes her head, but I’m not stopping until she hears the whole truth, regardless of how painful it is.
“Margot. I followed my brother all the way to Samwell Bridge,” I continue. “They were there, waiting for him. Bill and Emmanuel.”
“Emmanuel?”
“He was in on it! They knew about the affair. Emmanuel picked up on the signs, Margot. He told your father. They confronted my brother that night. Emmanuel wanted to pay him off, but Stephan didn’t care about the money. He said things, things he shouldn’t have said to a man whose pride was already injured.”
“Clara, stop.”
“Bill got angry. He got so angry that he hit Stephan in the head with a large wrench,” I manage, hot tears filling my eyes again. “I watched my brother fall. I watched my brother die. And then I watched Bill go into a full-blown panic. Emmanuel shut down; he didn’t know what to do. They shoved Stephan in his car, then fiddled with the gear shift and gas pedal. I saw my brother’s car go off that fucking bridge, Margot, but he wasn’t driving. He was already dead.”
Margot takes a few steps back, horrified by everything she just heard, but I refuse to let her deny any of it, to reject any of it.
“Look back and tell me things didn’t drastically change in your marriage after Stephan died. Tell me Emmanuel wasn’t acting shady as hell, that your father’s behavior wasn’t different. Look me in the eyes and tell me.”
She lifts her gaze and our eyes meet.
I see the flicker of clarity. The realization that every word I just said was true. I can almost hear the glass castle shattering inside her head, the lies she’d told herself over the years to appease her own suspicions and her own sense of guilt.
