Grant pushed his way through the crowd, his face ashen. The liquid courage had entirely evaporated. “Myra, please. Let’s just go home. We can go to counseling.”
Elena turned her gaze on him like a sniper rifle. “She will never set foot in a structure owned by you again.”
Judith, sensing the catastrophic loss of control, reverted to her ultimate weapon: playing the victim. She dramatically grabbed Grant’s arm, tears instantly pooling in her eyes. “Look at what they are doing, Grant! They are destroying our reputation on Mother’s Day! Your poor father would be absolutely sickened by this betrayal!”
I had remained silent since exiting my car. I took a breath. My voice was eerily calm, a perfect mirror of my mother’s.
“Harold’s letter suggests otherwise, Judith.”
All the blood instantly drained from Judith’s face, leaving her looking like a wax mannequin. She let go of Grant’s arm. “What… what letter?”
“The handwritten letter hidden in the bottom drawer of Grant’s desk,” I replied, ensuring the surrounding tables could hear every syllable. “The one Harold wrote six months before his heart attack. The one where he explicitly stated his greatest regret in life was his profound cowardice in never standing up to your psychological abuse.”
A collective gasp echoed from Table 3. Grant stared at me, his mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. He looked down at his mother, the foundation of his entire reality cracking beneath his feet.
“That is a lie!” Judith shrieked, her composure fully shattered. “That is stolen property! You broke into my son’s sanctuary!”
“We are not here to litigate the reading of a letter,” Elena interrupted smoothly. “We are here to secure witnesses to an assault. We will be speaking with the authorities momentarily. I suggest you retain counsel.”
Paige rushed forward, attempting damage control. “This is absurd! Grant barely grazed her cheek! She’s just a hysterical drama queen!”
Elena locked eyes with Paige. “Are you formally stating, for the record, that you witnessed the physical altercation?”
Paige, arrogant and unthinking, snapped, “Yes! And it was a pathetic joke!”
