She folds her arms defensively across her chest and stares at me defiantly. “What could you want from me? Don’t you have it all? The big house? The company? The slutty girlfriend? All the money in the world?”
“And my daughter,” I reply firmly. “I don’t know if you have forgotten about her, but Amelia is the reason you acted like you were here, right? You pretended that you wanted to spend time with her.”
“You contacted me, remember? You found some way to get my details. I didn’t come for you. You are the one who wanted me to get back in that kid’s life. I never really wanted that.” She shrugs in a disgustingly blasé manner. “I have too much of my own shit going on to worry about anyone else. You know that.”
My blood runs ice cold. I can’t believe that she would be so callous, that she could speak about anyone like this, never mind the child that she gave birth to. Where are her maternal instincts? Her family bonds? Why doesn’t she care about Amelia at all? I do wish that I could change that for my daughter’s sake, but I can’t. What Karen feels and does is on her, all I can do is find a way to make it better for Amelia.
“Right, so you will always be too busy for Amelia.” I pause but she says nothing, confirming everything. “In which case, if you want your money, and more than you asked for, then I want you to sign some documents.”
“How much?” she shoots back immediately, focusing on the one part she cares about.
“A million dollars.” It sickens me to give her so much when she doesn’t deserve it because it will mean that she is getting what she wants and by sitting back, life is being handed to her, but it’s for the best. “And the documents that you need to sign for that money will be you giving up any parental rights. Forever.” I need her to know just how serious this is. “This will be a legal document that there is no turning back on. It means no coming back to this time, no trying to contact Amelia, no coming to me or anyone else in my life for more money.”
“For a million?” she smirks. “Sure. I will sign whatever you need me to. Let’s go in to the office, right?”
I’m stunned. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear Karen so readily agreeing to give her daughter up when she has never been around for Amelia, but here she is doing just that. The only positive thing that can come from this now is the knowledge that I will never ever have to lay eyes on her again. She will be gone for good. There won’t be any more tricking me once more and I will know that I tried my best. I did everything that I could.
“Right, sure. Let’s go inside. Everything is in there waiting for you. Including the check.”
Karen might as well skip in to the office because she’s so excited to get the money. The lawyer will explain everything to her again in more detail making sure that she fully understands what she is signing away, but I have no doubt that she’ll sign it anyway and this will be done for. A bitter sweet moment, I’m sure.
Eventually, I follow her inside, and we close the door behind us, to finally get this done.
***
Karen leaves before me, running off with the money that she will either use to start a new and good life for herself or that she will blow and destroy her life all over again. I don’t know and I don’t care either. She isn’t my problem anymore and she won’t be again. It’s been an expensive mistake, adding in Terry’s fees on top of the million dollars to get rid of her, but I have closure now. I know for sure… but I have to admit that I am sad.
Eventually I stuff my hands in to my pockets and I wander over to my car. I have been out of the office for hours now and I don’t really want to go back. I’m not in the mood to face anyone. Instead, I’m going to go home to tell my mother everything that’s happened, to let her know that she was right after all, and then I will find Latesha and I will check that she’s okay once more. She has been dragged in to this mess again and I feel bad for her. I just hope this doesn’t result in her wanting to walk away from me for good.
The drive home feels long, almost torturous. I hit every single red light along the way, which seems to be fate’s intervention, trying to give me the time I need to calm down. I am emotional and freaked out, today has been draining for me. Karen has done a number on me and my family… but we will rise from the ashes like a phoenix and we will be better off without her. To be honest, we have been fine without her for all of this time, so there is absolutely no reason why we can’t carry on with that. Her dark shadow won’t even remain in the corner of my mind now because I have to law on my side. She won’t be coming back. She values her freedom too much.