Chapter 18 - The Last Conversation With My Mother

I almost refused.

Alora didn't tell me what to do.

That was one of the reasons I loved her.

"If you go," she said, "go because you need something from it. Not because she needs something from you."

I went.

Corrine sat behind thick glass in a detention interview room, wearing county orange instead of pearls.

For the first time in my life, she looked old.

She picked up the phone.

"You brought this on us."

Not hello.

Not how is the baby?

That sentence.

I almost laughed.

"Why did you ask to see me?"

"Because you're still my son."

"You tried to have me declared incompetent."

"To save what your father built."

"Dad left the company years before he died. I built this."

Her mouth tightened. "With our name."

There it was.

The truth underneath everything.

Corrine believed my success belonged to the family as a collective asset—and that she was the family.

She talked for fifteen minutes. About sacrifice. Loyalty. Blood. How Alora had "changed" me. How Sloan deserved security. How grandchildren belonged to a lineage, not just parents.

I finally interrupted.

"Did you pull her hair?"

Corrine went still.

"Did you hit my pregnant wife?"

"She wouldn't cooperate."

"Did you plan to take my son?"

"I planned to protect him."

"From his mother?"

"From her influence."

I closed my eyes.

Some part of me had come hoping for one crack of remorse.

There was none.

"Then this is the last time you'll speak to me outside a courtroom."

Her expression broke.

"Thane, don't be dramatic. Families survive worse than this."

I stood.

"Healthy families don't require survivors."

I hung up the phone.

She slammed her palm against the glass.

I walked away.

In the hallway, the prosecutor met me.

"She talked more than she realized," he said.

"Meaning?"

"The interview was recorded with her consent. She just admitted the assault and the custody plan."

For the first time in weeks, justice felt possible.

Then he added one warning.

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"But Grant's defense team is about to claim your mother was the sole mastermind. If a jury buys that, he may walk on the most serious conspiracy charges."

And Grant knew enough about my company to hurt thousands of people on his way out.