Chapter 3 - The Ice Queen Returns
When I walked back into my mother’s house,
the air was filled with the smell of roasted chicken.
It was the "birthday week" dinner,
and they were all sitting around the table.
My mother,
Celeste,
was pouring wine.
Tabitha was laughing at something Peyton had said.
They looked like a picture-perfect family in a magazine.
Until they saw me.
I walked in with Brynn,
who was still clutching my hand tightly.
The room went silent,
the clinking of silverware the only sound.
"Oh,
you’re back,"
my mother said,
her voice dripping with boredom.
"See?
I told you she’d be fine."
Tabitha didn't even look up from her plate.
"Took you long enough,"
she remarked,
taking a sip of her wine.
"Peyton wanted to open her pre-birthday gift,"
"and your little drama delayed everything."
I stood in the doorway,
feeling a strange sense of detachment.
I looked at the table,
at the expensive decorations,
at the woman who had raised me to believe I was nothing.
"Brynn,"
I said softly,
"go to the car and wait for me."
"But Mommy—"
"Go,
baby.
The doors are locked,
and I’ll be there in five minutes."
Brynn nodded and scurried back out the door.
Once she was gone,
I walked toward the table.
I didn't scream.
I didn't throw things.
I simply pulled out a chair and sat down.
"You told her to hide,"
I said,
looking directly at Tabitha.
Tabitha’s eyes flickered with a brief moment of guilt before hardening.
"I don't know what you’re talking about."
"She told me everything,
Tabitha."
"She saw you look at her as you walked out the door."
"She saw you leave her alone in the dark."
My mother sighed,
setting her wine glass down with a sharp thud.
"Anya,
honestly.
Children imagine things."
"Tabitha just wanted to give her a little lesson in humility."
"She’s always so loud,
always wanting everyone to look at her."
"It’s good for her to realize the world doesn't revolve around her."
I looked at my mother,
the woman who was supposed to protect her grandchildren.
"A lesson?"
I asked.
"A five-year-old child was left alone in a mall for two hours."
"Anything could have happened to her."
"But she's fine!"
Tabitha snapped,
her voice rising.
"Stop being such a martyr,
Anya."
"You’ve always been jealous of me and Peyton."
"You’re just using this to make yourself the victim again."
I smiled.
It wasn't a nice smile.
It was the kind of smile a shark might give before it bites.
"You’re right,
Tabitha,"
I said.
"I am done being the victim."
"In fact,
I’ve already started the process of making sure I never am again."
I stood up and reached into my purse.
I pulled out a small,
black USB drive and set it on the table.
"What’s that?"
my mother asked,
her eyes narrowing.
"It’s a record,"
I said.
"Of every dollar I’ve 'loaned' this family over the last five years."
"Of every bill of yours I’ve paid,
Mother,
since you spent your entire inheritance on that cruise."
"And a little something extra for Tabitha."
Tabitha scoffed.
"What could you possibly have on me?"
"I know about the 'business expenses' you’ve been charging to your husband’s firm,"
I said quietly.
"The ones you thought I was too stupid to notice when I did the bookkeeping."
"The ones that look a lot like a secret bank account in your name."
Tabitha’s face went white.
"You wouldn't,"
she whispered.
"I already did,"
I said,
May you like
standing up.
"I just made a phone call."
