“I see you’ve been up to quite a bit over these past forty years,” she said, fluffing up her carefully styled hair with her free hand. She nodded toward Bianca. “When did you have this one? When you were forty yourself?”
Her mother nodded. “She was… a surprise.”
“Oh, I bet. Probably thought you were starting menopause, then boom, baby.” The laughter emanating from Ellen’s body only made the moment more disturbing. “I can’t imagine it, since I’ve only ever cared for women.”
“Yes, well, life is full of wondrous surprises.”
“Isn’t it? Which reminds me of how happy I am to finally get a chance to talk to you after all these years.” Ellen propped her elbow on the table, the gun pointed at Bianca. Don’t look at it. Just… breathe. “It’s been so difficult getting a hold of you. It made sense decades ago, before we had all of this technology. Now? I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”
“Of course not. It’s just… you know…”
“Good, good. Because we have a lot to talk about, Vivi.” Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Like how you and that husband of yours ruined my fucking life.”
A chill descended over the room. Bianca didn’t dare to do anything other than breathe, afraid that any sudden move could set Ellen off.
“You hurt me, Vivi. It was bad enough that you cheated on me with Phillip Black. Then you went and married the daft bastard? Why? Because Mommy and Daddy were on you to get married? Because you were so desperate to be a housewife? Because you were pregnant? Sweetheart, you could have told me the truth. Sure, I would have been mad, but you were the most important thing in the world. I would have helped you take care of the problem. Or we could have raised the sweet baby girl together. I honestly don’t know why we needed Phillip in the picture at all.”
“I should not have broken things off the way I did,” Vivianne said carefully. “It was wrong of me. Very self-centered. I’m…” She swallowed. “I’m sorry. Genuinely sorry, Ellen. I wish I could go back and do things differently, but I can’t.”
So it’s all true? A part of Bianca had wondered if Ellen was lying. She was so unhinged that she could have completely fabricated a relationship with her mother years and years ago.
“Your apology is duly noted. But your actions back then aren’t the only things that ruined my life, Vivi. I tried to move on, you know. I met other women. Had my heart healedfor a brief time with a wonderful lady I called my own. Then she left me, because of you. And then you and your husband destroyed the career I worked so hard to build over the years.”
“What do you mean?” Vivianne asked.
“Have you not heard? The Seattle business scene is abuzz with everything your husband has accomplished in the past year. Like acquiring a slew of New York-based companies. Ever heard of Paragon Perry?” Ellen didn’t give her a chance to respond. “That was me, darling. I built Paragon from the ground up, using money I saved from my first job. Within twenty years, it was one of the biggest international corporations in Manhattan. What happened? Don’t ask me. All I know is that I showed up to work one day to take my rightful seat in the CEO’s chair, and I found out that some of my board members had sold their shares to Black Diamond Holdings, who now own a majority share in the company. You and your husband forced me into retirement and replaced me with a puppet who has already turned my baby into a shell of its former self!”
“What are you talking about?” Vivianne stammered. “I don’t know a thing about any of that.”
“Don’t play dumb, Vivi. It wasn’t cute in college, and it’s not cute now.”
“But I really don’t. I’m not involved with the business side of things at all. I don’t even ask questions. Why, the moment my husband starts talking about work, my eyes glaze over and I’m champing at the bit to change the subject to what Beryl said at the country club!”
Ellen scoffed. “And I suppose he had no idea who I was either, then? I’m just your dirty little secret?”
“No. I told him about you, but only recently. I’m certain he didn’t know who you were when he bought your company. And he’s retiring soon, you see. He’s taken a step back, has been delegating to other people. Chances are, he had little to do with the buyout other than signing on the dotted line.”
Bianca stole another sip of juice. Her mother seemed to be telling the truth. For someone who didn’t pay attention to the family business, she sure knew a lot about what was going on.
“If that’s true…” Ellen shook her head. “Honestly, Vivi, that’s even worse.”
Gun in hand, she rose to her feet, looming over them both. While Bianca’s life flashed before her eyes for what had to be the third time that evening, Vivianne made a delicate sign of the cross. She was not Catholic.
“You knew nothing.” The gun shook in Ellen’s hand. “Both of you, you knew nothing.”
Bianca’s heart began pounding furiously. At any moment, Ellen could fire at either one of them. I don’t know what would be worse. Getting shot, or watching my mom die. Bianca could never live with herself if that happened. After all, she was the reason they both were in danger.
“All this time, you never even thought of me?” Ellen said. “You and your husband were oblivious to what you were doing to me? To my company and all the employees I thought of as my children? No, it wasn’t good enough to leave me in the dirt like a rejected kitten. You had to kick me while I was down, too. You’re the reason my marriage ended! She found out about you and couldn’t handle the thought of me having ever loved someone else. From three thousand miles away, you ruined my marriage. Then your husband takes over everything like the ruthless bastard he is! He took you from me. He took my baby from me. And you were both oblivious? You exist like this?”
Vivianne opened her mouth to speak. But she didn’t get the chance before Ellen raised the gun, pointing it right at Bianca’s chest.
“You need to learn how it feels to have everything you love ripped away from you,” she said. “We could start with this one right here. I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to find the others.”
Bianca’s breaths turned to sobs that shook her chest. She didn’t care if it made her look weak. She was about to be killed, right in front of her mother.
“Ellen,” Vivianne said calmly. “There’s no need for this. You promised me you’d let Bianca go.”
“People lie, Vivi. Just like you did forty years ago when you told me you loved me.”