Chapter 7: The Grandmother Melissa Tried to Erase
Dad opened the front door, and a woman with silver hair stood on the porch holding a worn leather handbag.
She looked to be in her late sixties. Her navy coat was buttoned to the throat, and rain glittered on her shoulders. Her eyes moved from Dad to Richard, then settled on Melissa, who sat motionless at the kitchen table.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then the woman looked at me.
"Sophia?""
I nodded cautiously.
She pressed a hand over her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't rush toward me or demand a hug.
Instead, she crouched until we were looking at each other.
"My goodness," she whispered.
"You have your mother's eyes.""
I stared at her.
"Are you my grandma?""
"Yes, sweetheart. I'm Eleanor Hayes. I'm your mother's mother.""
I had spent two years believing my mother's side of the family had disappeared. Melissa had told me that Grandma Eleanor wanted nothing to do with us. When I asked Dad about her, he always looked uncomfortable and said the situation was complicated.
Now the woman Melissa had claimed abandoned us stood in our doorway, looking at me as if she had been searching for me her entire life.
"Why haven't you visited?"" I asked.
Eleanor's expression crumpled.
"Because someone made sure I couldn't find you.""
She stood and looked directly at Melissa.
"And I think we both know who that was.""
Melissa sprang to her feet.
"Don't you dare come into my house and start accusing me!""
Eleanor calmly removed a folded document from her handbag.
"Your house? That's interesting. Michael owns this property, doesn't he?""
Melissa's mouth tightened.
Eleanor placed the document on the table.
"This is a letter I sent to Michael two years ago. It was returned to me unopened.""
Dad picked it up.
The envelope had his name written across the front in Eleanor's handwriting. A red stamp marked it as undeliverable, but someone had crossed out the forwarding address.
"I never saw this," Dad said.
"Of course you didn't," Eleanor replied.
"Melissa told me you wanted no contact with me. She told me the same thing about you.""
Dad stared at her.
"She contacted you?""
"Repeatedly. She said you blamed me for your wife's death. She said you believed I had neglected my daughter when she was sick.""
Eleanor's voice trembled.
"None of it was true. Your wife and I disagreed about treatment options when she was ill, but we reconciled before she died. She asked me to protect Sophia.""
I looked at Dad.
"Mom wanted Grandma to take care of me?""
Eleanor turned toward me.
"Your mother asked me to be there for you if anything happened to her. I promised her I would.""
"Then why didn't you come?""
The question came out sharper than I intended.
Eleanor didn't defend herself.
She knelt again and took my small hand.
"Because I believed the lies. And because I should have tried harder to find out the truth. I'm sorry, Sophia.""
I didn't know whether I wanted to hug her or run away.
Before I could decide, Melissa slammed her palm against the table.
"This is ridiculous! Eleanor has always hated me. She's been waiting for an opportunity to ruin my life!""
Eleanor stood.
"No, Melissa. I gave you opportunities to be part of this family. You repaid me by hiding letters, blocking my calls, and telling a little girl that her grandmother didn't love her.""
"Prove it!""
Eleanor opened her handbag again and removed a small digital recorder.
"I can.""
She pressed a button.
A familiar voice filled the kitchen.
Melissa's voice.
If you contact Michael again, I'll make sure you never see Sophia. He already believes you're unstable. All I have to do is show him a few messages, and he'll think you're dangerous.
Melissa lunged toward the recorder.
Richard caught her wrist.
"Don't," he warned.
She jerked away from him.
"Let go of me!""
Eleanor stopped the recording.
"I recorded that conversation after you threatened me during a telephone call. My attorney has the original file.""
Dad looked sick.
"You threatened her?""
Melissa pointed at Eleanor.
"She was interfering in my marriage!""
"Your marriage?"" Eleanor asked.
"I was trying to see my granddaughter.""
"You wanted control of her inheritance!""
Eleanor's face hardened.
"I never wanted a cent of Sophia's money.""
She removed another document.
"This is the reason I came tonight.""
Dad took the paper and read it slowly.
It was a letter from a financial investigator hired by Eleanor after she discovered that rental payments from her daughter's building were being redirected.
The investigator had traced several transactions to a company called Hayes Property Consulting.
Eleanor explained that the company had been created without her permission, using a business registration number connected to a small property firm she had once owned.
Someone had used the company's name to disguise transfers from Sophia's trust.
"I discovered the account six weeks ago," Eleanor said.
"When I contacted the bank, I learned that someone had been using Sophia's inheritance to finance properties and pay personal debts.""
Dad looked at Melissa.
"How much did you take?""
Melissa didn't answer.
Eleanor pointed to the final page.
"The investigator traced more than a million dollars. But he couldn't identify the destination of every transfer.""
Richard shifted uncomfortably.
Dad noticed.
"What's wrong with you?""
"Nothing.""
"Then why do you look like you've seen a ghost?""
Richard looked at Eleanor's documents.
"Because the company wasn't created to steal money.""
Dad stared at him.
"Then what was it created for?""
Richard swallowed.
"To buy the building.""
Eleanor's expression changed.
"What building?""
Richard looked at me.
"Your mother's building. The one she left you.""
Dad grabbed the table's edge.
"You were trying to buy my daughter's property with her own money?""
Richard didn't answer.
Eleanor slowly turned toward Melissa.
"Tell him the rest.""
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
But this time, nobody rushed to comfort her.
Finally, she whispered, "The sale was supposed to close next Friday.""
Dad looked at the document again.
At the bottom was a signature authorizing the transfer of ownership.
It looked like his.
But he had never signed it.
And beside the forged signature was a name that made Eleanor gasp.
The buyer wasn't Richard.
It was a company owned by Melissa's first husband.
A man she had always claimed died years before she met Michael.
Eleanor stepped backward.
"Melissa," she whispered, "what have you done?""
Melissa stared at the floor.
Then she raised her eyes toward me.
And for the first time, I saw something worse than anger in her face.
May you like
I saw desperation.
"Because," she whispered, "your mother didn't die the way you were told.""
