Chapter 5 - the lunch with brenda
An hour later, Margaret sat at a corner table inside a quiet garden cafe downtown. Across from her sat Brenda Collins, dressed in a vibrant floral dress, sipping hot tea as she listened to Margaret lay out the bank statements on the small round table.
Brenda’s eyes widened with pure fury as she scanned the figures.
"Thirty thousand dollars before he even claimed he was unemployed?" Brenda gasped, setting her teacup down with a sharp clack. "Margaret, that isn't just disrespect. That is financial theft!"
"Harrison signed every online transfer," Margaret whispered, her voice trembling slightly for the first time all day. "He gave her the money from my late husband's life insurance reserve... and then he brought her into my home and let her look down on me."
"Harrison is terrified of losing her," Brenda said fiercely, reaching across the table to squeeze Margaret’s hand. "Sloan has dominated him since the day they got married. But he is an adult, Margaret! He chose to betray his own mother to keep that woman happy."
Margaret looked out the cafe window at the quiet street. "He thought I would never look at the statements. He thought I was just a quiet widow who would stay in her kitchen and bake cakes."
"What are you going to do?" Brenda asked softly.
May you like
Margaret reached into her cardigan pocket, pulling out a small brass house key and placing it beside the bank statements.
"I gave them a home when they said they had nothing," Margaret said, her voice dropping into a cold, unshakeable tone. "Now I am going to give them the truth."
