Page 148 of Scandalous Contract

“Stefanie!” Susan gasped.

“What?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “Did I tell a lie?”

“Why do you always bring up the past when you see us?” Abby said.

“I think she does it to hurt me,” Susan whispered, voice wobbly.

I held up a hand, silencing Susan before she could say more.

“I’m not here to argue with you all. I’m here to inform you that this is how it’s going to be from now on. No contact with India at all. If you want to talk to her, contact me first. No visiting her, even after she turns eighteen.” I ignored Susan’s tears as Abby rubbed her mother’s shoulders, fake consoling her.

“Not only do I want you to stop contacting India, but I also want you to only contact me if it’s about India. Don’t call me when your business is failing. I’m not your money tree or your cash cow. I will no longer help you out when you run into a bind and owe creditors money or when you fail at business after business.”

Arnold shoved back in his chair, glaring daggers at me. “That’s what this meeting is really about, isn’t it? Money? You think you can cut us off just like that? After everything you did? You owe us.”

I stayed still. Calm. Though I was burning up inside.

“I don’t owe you anything, Arnold,” I said. “I can cut you off. And I will. I just did.”

His sister sneered. “You’re a selfish bitch, Stefanie and I honestly don’t know how I ever called you a friend.”

“We were never friends, not really. And please refrain from name-calling. I haven’t called you all a family of greedy abusers with an inferiority complex and the inability to realize that you’re exactly what the bible you read speaks out against.”

“Stefanie!” Abby yelled, and her mother wailed, crocodile tears spilling down her cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re talking to us like this. And I can’t believe you really want to keep India from herrealfamily.”

“I’m her real family. I’m the one who raised her. Not once did you offer your help, not monetarily or emotionally. None of you has ever spent more than thirty minutes with her.”

“Because you don’t let us,” Abby argued.

“When I used to let you come see her, you all came together, like this, you stayed and played with her for maybe five minutes, then you tried walking around my house, looking for things you could ask for. Or you commented on how a single mother could afford such a nice home and the things I had in it.”

“That’s because you profited off my son’s death,” Susan wailed.

“I didn’t profit off his death. I didn’t even know he had that life insurance policy until after his death. And I damn sure hadn’t expected him to put me as the beneficiary, considering that he was in the process of leaving me.”

“He didn’t get a chance to change it,” Abby yelled. “He was going to change it and put me as the beneficiary.”

“Too bad he never got around to it, huh?” I shrugged.

“You bitch!” Abby hissed.

“If refusing to give you the money my husband left to me makes me a bitch, then I’ll be that. I used that money to make sure my daughter had a roof over her head and that she never had to want for anything. I used it to pay for her college, and when she’s ready, I’m going to buy her a car and help her get her first house. I never squandered that money. I made sure India grew up happy, safe, and secure. I invested it so she’d never need anyone in the future. I even used it to help you all over the years. But you took advantage of me and India. And that ends now.”

“You know what will happen if you do this, don’t you?” Arnold asked, lounging in my chair, a smug smile on his cruel face.

“If you tell her anything about her parentage," I said slowly. "If you try to poison her against me, I will tell her the whole truth about Archie. About how he really treated me. About how he hurt me. I’ll tell her the truth about her mother and how they tricked me and used me. And then I’ll tell her how he stole from me and tried to run off with her mother, leaving me with his creditors hounding me. Then I’ll tell her how none of you wanted her when she was born. How you even said she wouldn’t fit in with your family because she was mixed. Then I’ll tell her that I find it creepy the way Arnold stares at her, which is why I’ve always told her to stay away from him.”

Arnold’s mouth dropped open, stunned and silent, probably for the first time in his miserable life.

"And there’s more I could tell her. Things Archie talked about when he was drunk. Things about his father. Things about his uncles.”

Susan’s eyes widened as her kids looked to her for guidance.

“If you tell her anything," I continued, voice low and dark. “I’ll make sure she knows every single ugly thing you want hidden."

Archie's mother made a strangled sound. His sister paled, her lower lip trembling. Arnold stood up so fast his chair clattered back against the floor. He rounded the table, moving toward me.

The minute Arnold surged out of his seat, I slid my hands into my pockets, where I had a blade waiting just in case I had to show them better than I could tell them. I’d invited them into my home, knowing that things may get a bit ugly.