PART4
I straightened my blazer.
“Good evening, David.”
Lilia’s mouth fell open.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she burst into laughter.
“Oh, this is unbelievable!”
She looked at David.
“Your mother works here?”
David looked confused.
“Apparently.”
I corrected him gently.
“I don’t work here in the way you’re imagining. I’m the vice president of guest services and a twenty-five-percent owner of Morrison Maritime.”
Lilia’s laughter stopped.
“What?”
“Twenty-five percent,” I repeated.
David stared at me.
“How?”
“James Morrison offered me a partnership. I accepted.”
Lilia looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from under her.
“Wait. You’re telling me you own part of this ship?”
“Not just this ship. Morrison Maritime operates twelve vessels.”
David’s face had gone pale.
He looked at my uniform, my identification badge, and then the expensive watch James had given me after the partnership became official.
“Mom, why didn’t you tell me?”
I almost laughed.
Why hadn’t I told him?
Because the last time I had tried to have a conversation with him, his wife had slapped me and he had demanded my savings.
“I didn’t think you were interested in my life, David.”
His eyes dropped.
Lilia immediately stepped forward.
“Well, that’s wonderful! What a surprise! You should have told us!”
I looked at her.
“Would that have changed how you treated me?”
She smiled awkwardly.
“Let’s not bring up the past.”
“The past was only a few weeks ago.”
She ignored that.
Instead, she glanced around the hallway to see whether anyone was listening.
“Perhaps we should have dinner together tomorrow. As a family.”
David nodded quickly.
“Yes. Mom, we should talk.”
I looked at my son.
For one brief moment, I saw the little boy who used to run toward me when I came home from work.
But that memory could not erase the man standing in front of me.
“I have a full schedule tomorrow.”
Lilia’s smile disappeared.
“Surely you can make time for your own family.”
I looked at her calmly.
“Family is not a word you can use only when you need something.”
Then I turned toward Emily.
“Please make sure the inventory issue is handled according to company policy. No employee should be threatened for doing their job.”
I walked away.
Behind me, I heard Lilia whisper something angrily.
But I didn’t turn around.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel the need to explain myself.
I had spent decades trying to earn respect from people who benefited from disrespecting me.
I was finished.
Or at least, I thought I was.
Because the following morning, Elizabeth called with something far more disturbing.
“Maria—”
She corrected herself.
“Sorry, Marlene. I reviewed the documents you sent. There’s something you need to know.”
I sat down.
“What is it?”
“Your son has been listed as an emergency financial contact on an old account. That’s not a problem by itself. However, I’ve also found evidence that someone may have attempted to access information about your savings and beneficiary arrangements.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“I can’t establish that from the records alone. But there’s another issue.”
“What issue?”
Elizabeth lowered her voice.
“Do you remember signing a financial authorization document several years ago when you were helping David with his car loan?”
I thought back.
There had been paperwork.
David had told me he needed my signature to help establish his credit history.
“I remember signing something.”
“Do you still have a copy?”
“No.”
“Then I want you to be very careful. I need to determine exactly what authority that document granted.”
I stood and walked toward the window.
Below me, passengers were enjoying breakfast on the open deck.
Some were laughing.
Some were taking photographs.
My son and daughter-in-law were probably still sleeping in their luxury suite.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, I was beginning to understand that the $50,000 cruise might never have been the real problem.
There might have been something much bigger happening behind my back.
“Elizabeth,” I said quietly, “I want every document reviewed. Every account. Every authorization. Everything.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“If David or Lilia contacts you, don’t discuss my finances with them.”
“Understood.”
I ended the call.
Then my phone lit up.
A message from David.
For a moment, I thought he might finally apologize.
Instead, it read:
Mom, Lilia and I have been talking. We think it’s time you made things right with us. We need to discuss your new position and what it means for our family. Call me immediately.
I read it twice.
Then another message arrived.
This one was from Lilia.
We know you’re doing very well now. It would be selfish to keep everything to yourself when your own son is struggling. We need to talk about the future.
I placed the phone on my desk.
And for the first time, I smiled.
Not because I was happy.
Because I finally understood what they were afraid of.
They weren’t sorry for what they had done.
They were worried that they had thrown away someone who might have become very useful to them.
I opened my laptop and began drafting an email to Elizabeth.
The subject line was simple.
FULL FINANCIAL AND LEGAL REVIEW — DAVID AND LILIA PATTERSON
I was about to send it when another notification appeared.
It was a photograph.
A photograph of a document.
David had sent it to me.
The message underneath said:
Mom, remember this? You signed it. We need to talk before you make any more decisions.
I opened the image.
My blood ran cold.
It was a financial authorization form dated four years earlier.
And at the bottom, beneath a paragraph I barely remembered reading, was my signature.
But there was something else.
A handwritten note beside my name.
It said:
Authority to act on behalf of Marlene Patterson regarding specified financial matters.
I zoomed in.
Then I noticed the second page.
A page I had never seen before.
And the name written at the top wasn’t mine.
It was Lilia’s.
I immediately forwarded the photograph to Elizabeth.
Her reply came less than a minute later.
Marlene, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING ELSE. I need to see this original document. There may be a serious legal issue here.
I stared at the screen.
The cruise was suddenly the least of my worries.
Because if my son and daughter-in-law had been planning something with my financial information for years, then I needed to know exactly how far they had gone.
And I had a feeling the truth was going to be much worse than I imagined.
