I came home from my business trip a day early, only to find my fiancée cornering my mother in the kitchen. “Sign this NDA and go to the nursing home, or I’ll make sure your son never speaks to you again,”

Vanessa smiled, cruel and victorious, and forced a pen into my mother’s hand.

“Good,” she whispered. “Now be useful for once.”

Part 2
My mother stared down at the pen as though it were a weapon.

“I won’t sign,” she whispered.

Vanessa’s smile disappeared. “You will.”

“No.”

The slap split through the kitchen.

I almost stepped forward.

Almost.

But my mother straightened, one hand pressed to her cheek, and looked directly into Vanessa’s eyes. “Daniel chose me before he ever met you.”