Chapter 2 - The Stolen Envelope
The tension in the dining room reached a suffocating peak midway through the meal. Without a word of warning, Alexander suddenly stood up from his chair, his chair legs scraping sharply against the hardwood floor, and hurried down the hallway toward the master bedroom.
When he emerged a few moments later, his face was ghostly white, and his hands trembled visibly as they clutched a thick, heavy white envelope. He walked slowly back to the table, and to my absolute shock, he sank down onto his knees right beside my chair.
“Mom,” he whispered, his voice cracking with deep emotion. “You gave up your entire youth, your health, and your whole life for me. I saved every extra euro from my overtime projects for six full months. Please take this. Buy yourself some peace. Buy yourself something truly special that you don't have to share with anyone.”
My heart skipped a beat as I looked down. Inside the slightly parted flap of the envelope were neat, thick stacks of crisp hundred-euro notes. Twenty-five thousand euros in hard cash.
Before I could even process the magnitude of his sacrifice, Bianca’s face twisted into an ugly, contorted mask of pure fury before she could catch herself. The mask of the gracious hostess shattered entirely.
“No!” she shrieked, slamming her wine glass down so hard the stem snapped. “That money is absolutely not for her!”
Alexander blinked, genuinely stunned by her explosive reaction. He looked up at his wife from his kneeling position. “What are you talking about, Bianca? It’s my money. I earned it, and I want to honor my mother.”
“It is our future!” Bianca screamed, her voice rising to a hysterical pitch as she marched around the table. “And my father deserves financial security far more than some pathetic cleaning woman who spent her entire life smelling of cheap bleach and floor wax!”
Those words struck me harder than any physical slap ever could have. But before I could even draw breath to respond, Bianca lunged forward like a striking predator. Her manicured acrylic nails scraped sharply across the back of my frail fingers as she violently ripped the thick envelope straight out of my hands.
The envelope tore open, and neat stacks of hundred-euro bills spilled out like cascading autumn leaves across the living room carpet.
Alexander shouted in horror, scrambling to his feet to stop her, but Ewald stepped forward with alarming agility, smiling like a hungry dog closing in on a wounded rabbit. Without a second thought, Bianca scooped up the scattered bills, grabbed the torn envelope, and shoved the entire small fortune directly into her astonished father’s chest.
“Take it, Dad!” Bianca cried out triumphantly. “You actually earned dignity in this world! She only ever earned pity!”
For a terrifying moment, the entire room went completely dead silent. You could hear the faint ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. Alexander stared at his wife as if he were seeing a total stranger wearing her face for the very first time. Lydia laughed under her breath, a sharp, ugly sound of pure satisfaction, while Ewald tightly clutched the stolen envelope to his chest with both hands.
And I, the poor, defenseless old mother whom they foolishly believed they had finally broken into submission, leaned back in my chair and began to laugh.
It wasn't a bitter laugh. It was a deep, resonant, echoing sound that rattled the crystal glassware on the sideboard.
May you like
Bianca’s triumphant smile instantly vanished, replaced by sudden, nagging unease. She glared down at me, her eyes darting nervously. “What on earth is wrong with you, you crazy old woman? Are you losing your mind?”
Ignoring her frantic screech, I calmly wiped a stray tear of amusement from the corner of my eye. I reached down beneath the heavy decorative ceramic flowerpot sitting on the coffee table beside my chair, and slowly lifted the tiny, high-tech digital audio recorder I had hidden there just before lunch began.
