Chapter 4 - The Final Bargaining
My mother leaned forward, her eyes wet with what I hoped was regret, though I knew it was likely just fear. "Vivienne, please. We’re family. We can fix this. Your father made mistakes, but he’s still your father."
"He was my father when I asked for surgery," I replied, my voice steady. "He chose the yacht. Now, I’m choosing the liquidation."
My father looked at me, his arrogance finally giving way to a hollow, pathetic desperation. "What do you want, Viv? Money? I can get it. Just give me more time with the debt. Please."
"I don't want your money," I said. "I want the truth."
"The truth about what?" he whispered.
"Tell the truth about the insurance claim you filed when I was a teenager," I said. "The one that paid for the house in the hills, the one that you said was an 'act of god' but was actually a result of you setting the fire."
My mother’s face went pale. That secret had been buried for fifteen years.
"If you want to keep your freedom, you sign this confession," I said, sliding a second document across the table. "And then, you sign over the remaining rights to the estate to me. You walk away with nothing, or you spend the next twenty years in a federal prison."
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My father looked at the pen, then at me. He looked for a shred of pity, a hint of the 'good daughter' who used to beg for his approval. He found only the eyes of a soldier who had been through hell and had learned that mercy was a luxury she couldn't afford.
He reached for the pen.
