Chapter 3
I was still wearing my graduation gown when my mother sent the first threatening message.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'VE STARTED.
I stared at my phone.
Then another message appeared.
YOU WILL REGRET EMBARRASSING ME.
Arthur stood beside me in the university parking lot.
I showed him the screen.
He closed his eyes.
"Maya."
I waited.
He rubbed his forehead.
"Let me talk to her."
I shook my head.
"No."
He looked surprised.
"She's upset."
I stared at him.
"She destroyed my graduation cap."
"I know."
"She screamed that I was worthless."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I know."
"And now she's threatening me."
He looked down.
For years, Arthur had answered my mother's cruelty with the same sentence.
She's upset.
As if being upset made everything acceptable.
As if my feelings mattered less because I was younger.
I took a breath.
"I need you to stop explaining her behavior."
He looked at me.
"I'm not trying to excuse it."
"Then stop."
He nodded slowly.
"You're right."
I didn't know whether he meant it.
But I was too exhausted to argue.
My phone rang.
It was Jasmine.
"Girl, where are you?"
I smiled weakly.
"Outside."
"Come to the east parking lot. My mom wants to see you."
I hesitated.
"Jasmine—"
"Don't argue."
For the first time that day, I laughed.
"Okay."
Jasmine's mother, Mrs. Coleman, had known me since freshman year.
She worked as a nurse and treated me like another daughter.
When she saw me, she hurried forward.
"Oh, sweetheart."
I tried to smile.
Then she hugged me.
And I broke down.
I cried against her shoulder while she held me tightly.
"Let it out," she whispered.
I hadn't realized how badly I needed someone to hold me without asking what I had done wrong.
After a few minutes, she pulled back.
"I am so proud of you."
My throat tightened.
"Thank you."
She looked at my cap.
Jasmine had repaired it as best she could.
Mrs. Coleman touched the bent corner.
"That cap tells a story now."
I smiled sadly.
"Not a very happy one."
She shook her head.
"It tells the story of a girl who kept walking even after someone tried to stop her."
I began crying again.
Arthur stood nearby.
He looked ashamed.
I didn't try to comfort him.
For once, I allowed an adult to sit with the consequences of his choices.
That evening, I went to Jasmine's apartment.
I had been living in a small student rental near campus.
My lease ended in two weeks.
Originally, I planned to move back home while searching for a job.
That plan was finished.
I couldn't imagine sleeping beneath the same roof as Diane.
Not after what happened.
Jasmine made tea.
Then we sat at her kitchen table.
"Okay," she said. "Tell me everything."
I opened my laptop.
I showed her the scholarship records.
The suspicious email.
The payment reversal.
The foundation's response.
Then I showed her the message from my mother.
Jasmine stared at the screen.
"She threatened your diploma?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
Jasmine leaned back.
"Maya, your mother doesn't control whether you earned your degree."
"I know."
But part of me wasn't sure.
Diane had spent years convincing me that she could destroy anything I loved.
She controlled money.
Relationships.
Family gatherings.
Even the stories people told about me.
When I was nineteen, she called my internship supervisor and complained that I was emotionally unstable.
I nearly lost the placement.
When I was twenty-one, she contacted my landlord and falsely claimed I was planning to break my lease.
I spent weeks correcting the confusion.
Every time I confronted her, she insisted she was protecting me.
Now I wondered how many other things she had done without my knowledge.
Jasmine looked at me.
"Have you considered getting a lawyer?"
I hesitated.
"I can't afford one."
"My mom knows someone who works with students dealing with financial abuse."
I looked up.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"Let me ask her."
The next morning, Mrs. Coleman arranged a consultation with Attorney Renee Jackson.
Renee was a composed woman in her forties who specialized in civil disputes and financial misconduct.
I sat in her office with a folder full of documents.
She reviewed everything carefully.
Then she asked, "Maya, did you personally authorize the transfer?"
"No."
"Did anyone have permission to sign financial instructions for you?"
"Not after I turned eighteen."
She nodded.
"Then we need to determine exactly what authority was claimed and whether the transaction was valid."
I swallowed.
"Can my mother take away my degree?"
Renee looked at me.
"Your degree is based on your academic achievements. Your mother cannot simply cancel it because she's angry."
I felt tears gathering.
"What about the missing tuition payment?"
"We'll work with the university to establish the facts and resolve any disputed balance."
I nodded.
For the first time in days, I could breathe.
Then Renee asked something unexpected.
"Did your grandmother leave any other assets?"
I thought carefully.
"She owned a small house."
"Who inherited it?"
I hesitated.
"I thought she left it to my mother."
Renee studied me.
"Have you seen her will?"
I shook my head.
"No."
She made a note.
"We should obtain the estate records."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Because the education account may be connected to a larger estate plan."
I stared at her.
I remembered Grandma Evelyn's final days.
She had repeatedly asked to speak with me alone.
But Diane rarely allowed it.
She said Grandma was confused.
She told me not to upset her.
I felt a cold sensation move through my chest.
"Renee?"
"Yes?"
"My grandmother once told me she had something important to give me."
Renee looked up.
"What was it?"
"I don't know."
I swallowed.
"Mom came into the room before she could explain."
Renee nodded slowly.
"Let's review the estate documents before drawing conclusions."
That afternoon, Arthur called.
"Maya, I need to speak with you."
I hesitated.
"About what?"
"Your mother."
I closed my eyes.
"What now?"
He sounded shaken.
"I found something in her office."
My heart pounded.
"What?"
"A folder with your name on it."
I sat upright.
"What kind of folder?"
"Financial records. Letters. Documents."
My hands began trembling.
"Arthur, what documents?"
He hesitated.
Then whispered, "Some of them are from Evelyn's estate."
I stopped breathing.
"Grandma's estate?"
"Yes."
I gripped the phone.
"Does Mom know you found them?"
"No."
"Where are you?"
"At home."
I looked toward Jasmine.
She was watching me.
Arthur continued.
"Maya, there's a copy of a letter addressed to you."
My heart began racing.
"What does it say?"
He was silent.
Then I heard him begin crying.
"Arthur?"
His voice broke.
"Your grandmother left you more than a college fund."
I stood.
"How much more?"
He took a shaky breath.
"Maya, according to this document, she left you her house."
I stared at the wall.
Grandma's house.
The little yellow house where I spent my happiest childhood summers.
The house Diane told me had been sold years earlier.
I whispered, "That's impossible."
Arthur began crying harder.
Then he said something that made my entire body go cold.
"Your mother has been collecting rent from it for almost three years."
I couldn't speak.
May you like
Because my mother hadn't merely interfered with my education.
She may have stolen the one place my grandmother wanted me to call home.
