54. She Endured His Mother #2
“Oh, please. I’ve seen the two of you whispering in corners. Books .” She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure the two of you had plenty of conversations about books behind my son’s back—”
“Just stop right there,” Toby interrupted his mother. He paused for a second, waiting for my trembling hand to squeeze his back before he battled on. “This is not a path you want to go down again, Mother. You have no idea what Ian’s capable of—”
“Of course I do. Why do you think I fought your father on this so many times? Why do you think I wanted you to take the university offer in Melbourne? I would have done anything to keep you boys apart. By the time Ian convinced you to start the clinic with him…” She shook her head and pressed her palm to her heart. “I knew we’d never be rid of him.”
“Then point your anger at him,” Toby said. “Leave Gwen out of it. She’s done nothing but suffer.”
“Tobias, are you so clueless that you believe that?” His mother’s laugh was mocking. “Truly?”
“Mum,” Tanya said. “Give your vendetta against Gwen a rest for ten minutes, okay? Can we focus on the important facts here? One. We’ve got a half-brother who’s an absolute shithead. Two. You kept this from us for thirty years .”
Sarah squared her shoulders. “I should have been more careful with my words when that one”—she pointed at me—“tried to best me. I owed it to Teddy to take his mistake to my grave. It’s what he wanted.”
Toby shook his head. “It’s not what Dad would’ve wanted,” he said. “Dad liked Ian. He made sure he was part of our lives— his life—”
“Not in the end. In the weeks before Teddy passed, they had a falling out. He said Ian was always in trouble, making stupid choices, and chasing a lifestyle he couldn’t afford…
” Sarah reached across the table to hold Toby’s hand, but he snatched it away.
“Tobias, your father loved you more than you know. I know he almost broke your heart when he told you he didn’t want you to go to dental school, but he saw how hard you worked and everything you achieved.
He admired that. You . He was so proud of the man you became.
You two weren’t on speaking terms by then”—her gaze narrowed on me—“but Teddy wanted to be part of your life. He wouldn’t have done what he did if he wasn’t trying to make it right.
It’s the only explanation for what he did. Isn’t it, Gwen?”
Toby and I glanced at each other. We both had no idea what his mother was talking about.
“The only explanation for what Dad…did…” Toby said slowly. “About what?”
“The money,” Sarah said.
“Uh…” Toby glanced back at me.
I blinked at him, my mouth slowly pulling into a confused smile. It was like two conversations were happening, and I only had half the story for both. I was lost. I had no clue. Should I? Why did his mother keep staring at me like that?
Sarah barked a laugh. “Oh, please. Spare us all, Gwen. You’re no wide-eyed, innocent debutante. You saw your opportunity, and you took it. Don’t pretend you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I threw my hands up. “I have literally no idea what you’re talking about!”
“You should have become an actress instead of a lawyer.”
Tanya flipped up the menu and stuck it between us. “Cease fire!” She counted to three and lowered the menu. “Mum, just spit it out. What exactly did Dad do?”
“Something changed in Teddy before he passed away.” Sarah’s voice was choked.
It was strange to hear her speak with genuine emotion.
“He’d always been so much larger than life, but it was like he aged twenty years overnight.
He sat on the back deck for hours, watching the ocean, mumbling, constantly worrying.
It’s like he knew death was on his heels.
He was obsessed with getting everything ‘in order’ and making sure no one could take away what he’d worked for when… when…”
Tanya’s head bowed. “Dad knew he was sick?” she asked quietly.
Nodding, Sarah dashed a hand across her cheek, the tears vanishing in a second, and then she paused, steadying her breath.
The eyes that lifted again were emotionless.
“The bit of fluff Tobias had been chasing asked a lot of questions. Kayleigh. She asked me about the most important things to do once you were married.”
“Oh, great,” Toby muttered. “Glad to hear there were some valuable Stepford Wife life lessons when you were teaching her to cook.”
Sarah’s gaze turned sharp. “The silly little thing has a head only for romance, but she got me thinking. I suppose it was my own fault for not keeping a closer eye on what was happening in those days when your father was acting so strangely… But the money kept coming after he passed, and I’d never worried too much about where it came from… ”
“Mum, what on earth are you talking about?” Tanya asked.
“ Her .” Sarah glared at me. “I trawled back through every last piece of paperwork. I tried to talk to the lawyers. Tried. The funny thing was, they weren’t your father’s lawyers anymore.
They were only on retainer to handle his will.
He’d fired them all. A week before he passed away, he’d signed over control of every last dollar to his new lawyer.
” Her emotionless eyes stayed locked on me. “Gwen.”