Chapter 7 - Rachel Knew
Rachel Mercer lived in Seattle.
My younger sister.
We hadn't spoken much in two years.
Evelyn always told me Rachel was selfish.
Rachel told me Mom was impossible.
I stayed neutral.
Neutrality again.
The stolen money had partly funded Rachel's business.
But Rachel didn't know it was stolen.
Evelyn told her Grandpa approved.
When Rachel learned the truth, she called me.
“I should have warned you.”
“About what?”
“Mom.”
I almost laughed.
“Everybody apparently knew except me.”
“No.”
Rachel's voice cracked.
“You knew too. You just had different names for it.”
That hurt because it was true.
Rachel told me childhood stories I remembered differently.
Mom reading my journals.
Mom calling coaches.
Mom sabotaging Rachel's college choice because it was too far away.
Mom threatening to stop helping with tuition if Rachel moved.
Mom accessing my first girlfriend's email.
I had forgotten that.
Or chosen to.
Rachel left Illinois because distance was the only boundary Evelyn respected.
“She hated Maya from the beginning,” Rachel said.
“Why?”
“Because Maya didn't need her.”
There it was.
Maya didn't call Evelyn for advice.
Didn't ask permission.
Didn't hand over decisions.
Evelyn called that disrespect.
Rachel called it independence.
Grandpa saw it too.
May you like
The trust wasn't only protecting Oliver's money.
It was protecting him from a family pattern.
