Margaret’s face looked as if it had been carved from granite, her lips pressed into a bloodless line. There wasn’t a trace of sorrow in her expression—only calculation.
“I’ll think about it,” Laura replied evenly.
“There is nothing to think over!” Margaret slammed her palm against the table, the sharp crack echoing through the room. “We’re filing the lawsuit in a week. And you’re joining us. Is that clear?”
Laura didn’t answer. She simply moved to the door and held it open, standing aside in silence until they had all stepped out.
On the threshold, Margaret paused and turned back.
“If you betray us,” she said coldly, “I will never forgive you. Not in this lifetime.”
The house beyond the cherry orchard leaned slightly to one side, as though tired of standing. Paint peeled from the shutters in curled strips. Laura pushed open the small gate. In the yard, an old tire swing swayed faintly, and a sun-bleached plastic table stood crooked on the grass. She knocked.
The woman who opened the door was painfully thin, almost translucent. Her hair was pulled back with a simple elastic band, her face bare of makeup, dark shadows pooled beneath her eyes. The moment she saw Laura, understanding dawned.
“You’re his wife.”
“Yes.”
They studied one another in silence. Laura had expected arrogance, defiance—some sign of a rival. Instead she saw a fragile, exhausted woman who seemed afraid even to breathe too deeply.
“Please, come in,” Rachel said, stepping aside.
Inside, the air smelled faintly of medication and boiled buckwheat. Two children sat on the worn sofa—a boy of about twelve and a younger girl. The boy looked up at Laura, and a chill ran through her. That face. She had seen it decades ago, when Michael was young.
“He told me you were divorced,” Rachel said quietly, lowering herself into a chair. “Three years ago. I believed him. I worked in packaging at the plant; he came by to supervise shifts. We started talking. He was kind. Attentive. When my health began to fail, he helped me find doctors. And then… I fell in love. I thought he had, too. I thought we were a family.”
Her hands tightened in her lap. Laura sat across from her.
“When did you learn the truth?”
“After he passed away.” Rachel lifted her eyes, shame burning in them so intensely that Laura felt it like heat. “The notary called. I couldn’t believe it. I feel so foolish… I truly didn’t know. I swear to you.”
The boy rose and approached Laura. His voice was soft but steady.
“Are you going to take everything in court? Mom needs surgery. Without it, she won’t make it to summer. The only place that can do it is a clinic in the capital. If you file a claim, the money will be frozen. She won’t have time.”
Laura looked at him, at the stubborn set of his jaw, and words failed her. She had come prepared to face an enemy. Instead she found a deceived woman—and children who simply wanted their mother to live.
“I need time,” she managed at last.
As she stepped back through the doorway, Rachel called after her.
“I would give up every dollar,” she said hoarsely. “But I have nothing else to pay for treatment. Only my children. I can’t let them be left alone.”
That night, Laura went through Michael’s belongings. In the back of a drawer she found his old planner, the one he had misplaced months earlier. She flipped through absentmindedly—until she recognized his handwriting.
“How do I tell Laura? She gave me her whole life. And I split mine in two. Rachel and the kids—they need me. But I can’t betray Laura either. How did I end up unable to choose?”
Below, in smaller, hurried script: “Rachel is getting weaker. The doctors say six months, maybe less. Surgery is her only chance. I’m terrified. I’m so afraid.”