“She studied nursing for two semesters before quitting,” I said, the memory now chilling. “Apparently she learned just enough.”

Nora leaned back, fingers steepled. “So what now? We can go to the police. They wouldn’t stand a chance in court.”

I shook my head. “And make this a public circus? Have my daughter dragged through a trial? Tarnish everything I spent my life building? No. Absolutely not.”

“Then what are you thinking?”

“I need to know exactly how deep in debt they are.”

Nora pulled out a thick folder from her desk. “I ordered a full financial background check after your call last night. It came in this morning.”

I flipped through the pages. The picture was bleak: maxed-out cards, predatory loans, overdue luxury car payments, an apartment on the brink of foreclosure. A glamorous life built on a crumbling foundation.

“They’re ruined,” I said quietly, closing the file. “Utterly.”

“Desperate people do desperate things,” Nora replied.

“What hurts most,” I whispered, my voice cracking, “is not that they tried to kill me. It’s that they never had to. If they had asked for help, I would have given it. I always have.”

Nora squeezed my hand across the desk. “Greed blinds people, Helen. It makes them forget what really matters.”

I straightened, a plan forming with icy clarity. “Nora, I need you to prepare a new will. Very detailed. And then schedule a meeting with Rachel and Derek for tomorrow—here. Tell them it’s about the foundation, and that I’m considering changing the amount.”

Nora raised an eyebrow. “What exactly are you preparing?”

“Something they won’t recover from,” I said calmly. “A consequence they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”

The next morning, I woke with a strange, weightless feeling. The hurt was still there—a deep, aching wound—but it was layered beneath a new, piercing clarity. I dressed in a simple, elegant gray suit and pulled my hair into a neat bun.

I wanted Rachel to see me as I truly was: the mother she had tried to quietly erase.

As I arrived at Nora’s office, they were already in the conference room, looking anxious. “They should be,” I remarked quietly to Nora.

When I entered, Rachel and Derek stood up immediately. My daughter was wearing a light blue dress, almost innocent in its cut. “Mom,” she came forward to hug me, but I took a subtle step back. She hesitated, confused, but quickly turned the movement into a gesture of pulling out a chair for me. “Are you feeling better today?”

“Much better,” I replied, sitting down. “It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do.”

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