Page 123 of Resist Me (Forget the Past 3)

“I have two hundred thousand,” she says.

The statement rocks me back on my heels. I never kept precise track of my parents’ income, but I know they don’t have money like that.

“Dollars? How’d you get that much? Even if you pawned everything Dad ever gave you, that still wouldn’t come close.”

Her lips tighten, and she stares behind me. I glance back to see Paige talking animatedly to a bewildered Leo as Dash stands just behind his wife, arms wrapped lovingly around her waist.

“My mother did not forget me.” The statement has me whirling to meet her eyes. Shockingly enough, there’s a shine to them. “I received a letter. A check.”

Of course.

“You’re rich now? Great.” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice. Vivian probably handed the money over to my father before the envelope hit the table.

“No. I came to tell you to keep your money. Leo’s debt is paid.”

“What?” I shake my head to clear away the fog of confusion. She can’t have just said what I thought she did.

“Your uncle is in some trouble with the law. He trusted the wrong person, and now they’re watching his every move. Apparently, someone in the organization was collecting info on the cars. Like they were going to move against him.”

I keep my face blank even as a triumphant smirk threatens to curl my lips. What’s wild is how easy the revenge was. All I did was print off the pictures of the VIN numbers I’d taken, stick them in an envelope with a note readingDon’t trust Nicky, and then anonymously mail them to my uncle’s home. Mike’s paranoia took care of the rest.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what happened to the rat my father brought with him to kidnap me, but I keep the question to myself. No point in hinting at the truth. Nicky partnered with the wrong Lamont. He never should’ve broken into my home and bludgeoned me. He landed squarely on my revenge list that day.

Oblivious to my hand in the events, my mother keeps talking. “With the way your father treated you…well, Mike doesn’t know who to trust.” She examines her perfectly manicured nails. “Money is power, and he needed money fast, not over the next year like you’d planned. He accepted my payment in place of yours and agreed to cut Leo out of the business.” She smooths her hands down the front of her dress. “It’s a mother’s duty to protect her children.”

When have you ever?The question hisses from a still bleeding part of my heart, but I keep my mouth closed.

Instead, I let my eyes catch on Charlie as he trots out onto the deck with a pile of wrapped gifts in his arms.

And I think about what he would want me to say.

Damn it. I hate the high road.

“You could get out too. You’ve never been a part of the business. You could leave.”

My mother smiles, but the expression seems to hurt her face. “No. I couldn’t leave your father. Our love is not the fading kind.”

That I believe. Though I’ve often doubted if either of my parents held any affection for their children, I’ve always known they loved each other. Maybe the emotion is a darker one, twisted because both are selfish. But it’s there.

Still.

“Marriage doesn’t have to be like what you have.” Again, I seek out Charlie and realize he’s found me too. My husband watches me intently. I wave, and he nods back, leaving me to handle this the way I want.

“The years will change that,” my mother says, regaining my attention.

Keeping rash, defensive words from spilling out is a struggle. It’s my natural defense with her. Instead, I let my mind soak in the memories I have of my husband. Of all the mistakes we’ve made, but also the ways we work to fix them.

My dad doesn’t fix things.

My mother doesn’t acknowledge when something is broken.

They never had a chance.

But telling her will only lead further into the darkness, and all I want is to step back into the light.

“We’ll see.” Then I move forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. The gesture is as much as I can give her. There’s no hug in me. “You did right by Leo. This is what Wai Po would have wanted.”

Vivian shrugs away from my palm. “My mother wanted Tsai Mei-ling. A perfect, well-behaved daughter. But that girl never existed.”

---