“How it sounds?”
The daughter-in-law looked at her.
“I panicked.”
“You planned.”
The housekeeper’s voice was quiet.
“You positioned your phone.”
“I was recording because my brother told me I needed proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That she signed willingly.”
The matriarch gave a stunned laugh.
The daughter-in-law flinched.
“Do you hear yourself?”
The daughter-in-law covered her face.
The husband picked up the phone again.
“How long has this been going on?”
“Three weeks.”
“And today?”
She lowered her hands.
“Today was supposed to be the signature.”
“Then why frame her?”
The housekeeper already knew.
She answered first.
“Because I saw her in the study.”
The daughter-in-law looked at her.
“Yes.”
The husband’s face hardened.
“You thought she would expose you.”
“I thought she already knew.”
“I suspected,” the housekeeper said.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
The housekeeper stood.
“Suspicion is why I watched. Truth is why I spoke.”
That difference hung between them.
The daughter-in-law looked exhausted.
“Yesterday my brother said if the housekeeper disappeared, nobody would question anything.”
The husband’s blood went cold.
“Disappeared?”
“Fired.”
He stared.
“What exactly did he tell you to do?”
She began crying harder.
“Make her look dishonest.”
“So you chose poisoning?”
“I didn’t think anyone would actually call police.”
The housekeeper laughed in disbelief.
“You accused me of trying to poison an elderly woman.”
“I thought they’d fire you.”
“And then?”
“Then the signature.”
The matriarch looked older than she had an hour earlier.
The housekeeper walked toward her.
“Are you all right?”
The old woman nodded.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
The daughter-in-law whispered, “I’m sorry.”
The matriarch looked at her.
“For which part?”
The younger woman had no answer.
The husband walked toward the window.
Outside, the lawn stretched toward the long driveway.
A black SUV sat near the gate.
He frowned.
“Whose car is that?”
Nobody answered.
The daughter-in-law looked up.
Her face changed.
The husband saw it.
“Who is here?”
“No one.”
He stared.
“Your brother?”
She said nothing.
The husband walked toward the side door.
His wife grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He pulled free.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“What is he doing here?”
“He was supposed to wait.”
“For what?”
She began shaking.
“For me.”
The matriarch’s voice became cold.
“After I signed.”
The daughter-in-law closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The husband reached for his phone.
His wife grabbed it.
“No.”
He stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“He’ll leave.”
“That is exactly what I don’t want.”
She held the phone.
“Please.”
The husband extended his hand.
“Give it back.”
“No.”