My Dad Brought His First Love Back
After my dad's first love moved into our house and became my tutor, my mom never raised her voice at her again.
She just coughed worse and worse, until one day I found the lab report she'd thrown out. Stage IV lung cancer.
That afternoon, Dad came home with his arm around her, and walked right into Mom sitting on the couch.
There was a flicker of guilt on his face. "Helena, if you've got something to say, just say it. Don't make a scene in front of the kid."
Mom was eerily calm. She pointed at the woman and said,
"She gets on her knees and apologizes to me three times. And you sign over half the company. Then we're done."
Dad thought she'd lost it. But in the end he signed the share transfer.
After that, Mom's pills kept multiplying and her appetite kept shrinking. But she hired the best lawyer in town, and over and over she taught me how to manage those shares once I was old enough.
Dad never figured out the one thing that mattered. Mom was already on her way out.