"I do not know what you know. Every time we reach the part where you hurt her, you give me another reason you were afraid."
Bethany fell silent.
Arthur continued, "After Megan left, Evelyn found her and gave her enough money to start again. Megan signed a receipt, acknowledging the help."
Bethany removed a smaller envelope. "This is the original."
Henry compared it with the earlier paper. The original said nothing about Megan agreeing never to return; that sentence existed only on Bethany's copy.
Henry's face drained. "Who changed it?"
Bethany looked at her son. "Your father."
After Megan disappeared, Bethany's husband learned that Evelyn had helped her. Terrified Megan would return, he altered the agreement to make it seem she had accepted money to sever all ties.
"And you knew," Henry said.
"I found out later."
"Then you kept it."
"I had you. Your father was rebuilding his life. Megan was gone."
Chloe gave a dry laugh. "Time is useful when the person being hurt is somewhere else."
Bethany tried to answer, but Chloe continued, "My mother saved your husband from losing everything. She protected your pregnancy. She accepted blame for money she never stole. Then the man she protected changed a document and made her sacrifice look like guilt."
Bethany lowered her head. "He was afraid."
"And my mother lost everything anyway."
No one answered.
"There were months when we ate almost nothing but eggs and rice," Chloe said. "She could have come back here. She could have shown the pendant and asked for help. She never did."
Arthur covered his face. "She lived believing I thought she was a thief."
"Yes."
"I should have found her."
"Yes." Chloe offered no comforting lie.
Then Bethany whispered, "I did find her."
Everyone turned.
"A few years after she left."
"Where?" Chloe asked.
"Brunswick."
Chloe felt the room tilt; she had lived there with Megan when she was very young. "You spoke to her?"
Bethany nodded. "She had you with her."
"What did she say?"
"I apologized. I told her Arthur had accepted my marriage and we could fix everything. And she said she would never return to a house where she had to prove she deserved to be loved."