Then a thought occurred to me.
“Did Felix know you took it?” I asked.
A hint of a sickening grin pulled the corners of her lips upward, making me feel nauseated.
“If you told him it was missing, I’m certain he figured it out.”
And he’d ignored that information and instead accused Luke’s mother of stealing it. I had no idea why he’d do that. If he’d known about Luke and me, I’d bet he did it to hurt me, but as far as I knew, neither of my parents knew about the time we’d spent together in secret.
“So you stole from your daughter to get revenge on the husband you were leaving,” I stated unnecessarily.
“After the agreement he forced on me, I was too mad to think straight. So yes, revenge was part of it. It was also insurance. In case he stopped paying me.”
I didn’t have a clue what the ring’s value was, but with a Russian history and the size, not to mention the quality of the diamonds, selling it would likely be enough for a normal person to live for months. Maybe years. But Bianca Lansford James was not a normal person. The life she was accustomed to consisted of ridiculous spending and waste.
“Did you ever consider just getting a job and earning your living like the rest of the world?”
“Oh, lord, what would I do, Magnolia?”
“Whatever you needed to,” I said, sitting up straighter. “When you suddenly lose everything, you figure it out. You use the brain God gave you, hope for the assistance of a good-hearted person or two, and do what you need to do.”
“I’m not as strong as you.”
“It’s not about strength,” I said angrily. “It’s about determination.”
Were there moments I’d felt desperate? Yes. A lot of them.
Was I incredibly lucky Dotty had had compassion when she’d found me sleeping in my car? Absolutely.
But was I determined to change my life and make it my own? Something I could be proud of? More than anything.
If I could do it coming from my overdramatic, hate-filled, manipulative background, she could too. The difference was, she hadn’t been forced to.
Would I have been able to start over if Felix hadn’t disowned me? I wasn’t sure, but I tended to think everything had happened as it needed to in order to get me here, and I was thankful to be where I was: not dependent on that hateful man anymore. Not dependent on any man.
The fact was, I didn’t have any right or reason to feel superior to her. I’d been kicked out and done what I had to do. She hadn’t been forced in the same way.
So instead of hatred and anger—because honestly, I knew from experience how those sucked so much energy out of a person—I felt sorry for her.
The woman across from me had never seemed happy in the seventeen years I’d lived with her, and she obviously wasn’t a happy person now. She was sad, remorseful, and toxic. The only emotion I could muster for her at this moment was pity.
We had one thing in common, and that was that we were both told who we would marry for the sake of business. The difference was, she’d gone along with it. I’d eventually ultimately refused.
Thank all the stars above.
Sitting across from me was a glimpse of how I could’ve ended up had I made a different decision and been cowed into marrying Rick two years ago.
In spite of all the baggage and awfulness of the past half hour, a lightness flitted through me. I’d chosen right. I was so much better off than my mother. Chances were, she didn’t recognize that. Not while she was still dependent on the money she’d received from Felix and Franklin. She didn’t know what it was like to be hungry and scared about where you were going to live and how you were going to eat. I’d gone through some horrible times, but looking at her, it became clear to me just how lucky I was.
“I was forced to find my own way,” I said finally. “At the time, I thought it was the worst thing ever. But now my future is in my hands. No one else’s. Especially not some misogynistic, pathetic, weak man. I hope coming clean to me somehow frees you, Mother.”
“It likely will after I go to my father.”
As she’d said, better late than never, but that was her problem.
“Thank you for returning the ring to me,” I said, my tone businesslike. I was ready for her to leave.
I tilted the ring from side to side, watching how the light hit it. As gorgeous as it was, I couldn’t look at it without seeing the twisted hate and manipulation of my childhood.
