There it was.
I stared at her.
“What does that have to do with Jeffrey and George?”
She pulled out a chair and sat down.
“It has everything to do with making this easier.”
I remained standing.
“What are you talking about?”
Vanessa folded her hands on the table.
“Give me fifty-one percent of Ellis Hearth.”
For several seconds, I genuinely believed I had misunderstood.
“Excuse me?”
“Fifty-one percent. Controlling interest.”
I laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the demand was so outrageous my mind didn’t know what else to do.
“You abandoned your sons.”
Her expression hardened.
“And you built a brand around being the heroic grandmother who saved them.”
“That is not what I built.”
“People love your story. Don’t pretend they don’t.”
I pointed toward the door.
“Leave.”
She stayed seated.
“You’re seventy-three, Margaret.”
“So?”
“So think.”
Her voice became quieter.
