Chapter 2 - Mia’s Return
Within three hours, my phone buzzed with an incoming FaceTime call from Mia.
I tapped accept. Mia’s face filled the screen, framed by the interior of her airport rental car. She hadn't even gone home to drop off her luggage; she had driven straight from the tarmac toward my house. Her jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle ticking beneath her skin.
“Rachel called me,” Mia said flatly, her voice devoid of its usual warmth. “She sent me photos of the bank statements while I was pulling out of the parking garage in Chicago. I cancelled my meetings, Janette. I’m five minutes away.”
“Drive safe, Mia,” I replied, leaning against my kitchen counter.
“Don’t tell me to drive safe,” she snapped, though her eyes softened with grief. “How is she? How’s my niece?”
“She’s quiet. She’s resilient, Mia, but she’s seven. She doesn’t understand why grandma treats her like she doesn’t exist, and now she doesn’t have to understand—because this goes way beyond favoritism. This is betrayal.”
When Mia arrived, she didn't knock. She walked straight through the front door, tossed her suitcase into the hallway, and marched into the kitchen where Rachel and I were sitting in grim silence.
“Explain,” Mia demanded, staring down at Rachel.
Rachel flinched. “I didn’t know, Mia! I swear to God, I didn’t know! Mom always said she was managing everything responsibly. She cried to me about inflation, about how hard things were! I thought Janette was just being cold-hearted over a credit card!”
“And now?” Mia asked, her voice lethal. “Now do you see what she is?”
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Rachel nodded miserably, wiping her nose with a tissue. “She’s running a grift. And she uses the twins as props to justify every single selfish thing she does.”
Mia turned her gaze to me. “We’re not calling her. We’re not texting her. We’re going to her house tonight. All three of us.”
