I always arrive at work before Agnes who, thanks to the labor laws, usually puts in a nine-to-five day unless I need her to come in earlier or stay later—which is often.

Lately, that hasn’t been the case. So I’m not surprised when I don’t see her at her desk.

I am, however, very surprised to see another woman standing there.

My mother.

“Mom,” I say smoothly, belying the sudden turmoil going on inside of me.

She’s dressed smartly as usual, no doubt taking an early morning detour from her day at her company.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” she says, giving me a cynical smile. “If I had received an invitation to the wedding, I would have bought the two of you something off the registry. Was there a registry?” she asks with a confused look on her face.

I give her a confident smile and stride past her to my office. We might as well get this over with. I hold the door open for her and she gives me a cool look as she passes through.

“So,” I say, unbuttoning my suit jacket as I settle into my chair, “did you drop by just to congratulate me, or was there something else to which I owe the pleasure of your company?”

She sets her purse on her lap and she takes one of the chairs opposite me. She leans back a bit as she gives me an assessing look. “I have to hand it to you. Of all the moves I thought you’d make, marriage was certainly not one of them. So I suppose congratulations are in order. You managed to pull one over on your own mother.”

“And what makes you think Simone and I aren’t living in marital bliss, one big happy family?” I ask in teasing voice, mostly to keep her from knowing the truth. The last thing in the world I want is for her to know I’ve developed feelings for both Stuart and Simone.

She huffs out a resentful sigh. “Despite what you might think, I did challenge the two of you out of Stuart’s best interests.”

“Is that so?” I say flatly.

Her lips tighten. “To be honest, when I heard what you two had pulled, I didn’t think you’d last even this long.”

“Perhaps the two of us are actually in love. I’ve heard that emotional events like a death in the family can bring people together that way.”

It sounds sickeningly cynical to my own ears, and completely unworthy of everything I’ve discovered about myself this past week. All the same, I need to use whatever weapons I can to keep the woman sitting across from me at bay. The second she sniffs out any weakness, she’s sure to use it against me.

I relax a bit when I see her sigh and settle into her chair with a resigned air. She looks off to the side and her mouth twists with thought. Just like Kevin used to do. I let that one go, waiting to see what she pulls out of her hat for her next trick. When she twists her head back toward me, I brace myself as I see the determined gleam in her eye.

“What if I were to offer you a proposition?”

I remain perfectly neutral, not answering her. Instead, I pay close attention to her body language and expression, gleaning some clue as to what offer it is she’s about to drop in my lap.

Sensing an opening, she continues “I’m willing to drop the suit—both suits, but I’d like something in return.”

The offer has my heart pounding. It’s what I wanted, unobstructed control of Stuart’s estate. With my mother out of the way, the path would be clear to following through with my original plan: complete guardianship over Stuart.

It would also mean Simone and I would no longer need to be married. We could get that amicable divorce we planned from the very beginning. She could take Stuart could move into their own apartment. We could go back to square one.

I’ve made sure that none of these thoughts are written on my face. Instead I focus on what she’s about to ask for.

“What is it you want in return?” I ask, noncommittally.

“A loan.”

I blink once in surprise, then I laugh. “So much for having Stuart’s best interests at heart. This was about money after all.”

Her eyes blaze in anger. “I love my grandson, Archer. I had every intention of being the best guardian I could.”

“The money was just the icing on the cake,” I say sardonically.

She sniffs and tilts her head up. “My company is a good investment. I can show you the financials and you’d see. I would have never taken advantage of my own grandson’s money that way.”

A smirk comes to my face. “Just for curiosity’s sake, how much are we talking about here?”

“Ten million dollars.”

I laugh again, louder this time. “Oh Mom, if you didn’t look so serious, I’d think you were joking.”

“Is that too much to ask?” she says. “As I said, it’s a good investment.”

“If you actually had some decent leverage,” I say, leaning in. “As it stands, you don’t have a single card to play. Simone and I are married, living together. Stuart is happy and healthy. Hell, we even have a damn dog right now. I’ll take my chances in court.”

I wait for the look of defeat to come over her face. When the seconds go by and she’s still staring at me as though considering her next move, I brace myself again.

“I didn’t want to do this,” she says, sighing and reaching down for her large purse. She pulls out her smart phone and begins pushing buttons to pull something up on the screen.

I wait, feeling the unease crawl through my body.

“In fact, I probably shouldn’t even show this to you, considering she’s your wife,” she says sarcastically, “but here it is.”

She hands me the phone, but I don’t need to see what’s on the screen to know what I’m about to be privy to. The video is paused at the beginning of what I’ve already seen with my own eyes: Simone and Josh’s sex tape.

I stare at it, not wanting to press play, especially not in front of my mother.

“Go on,” she urges. “I think you should see it.”

My eyes roll up to her wondering what her plans are. Unfortunately, it’s just enough to give her the one weapon she needs.

She exhales a soft laugh as the realization sets in. “You’ve already seen it haven’t you?” She settles back in her seat with a satisfied look, which quickly wrinkles in confusion. “And yet, you haven’t used it?”

I straighten in my chair and look at her, reading her to see where she’s going with this.

“It was sent to me weeks ago,” she muses, giving me a thoughtful look. “Long before your ‘marriage’. I can only assume the same is true of you.”

“Okay, yes. It was sent to me as well.” I slide the phone back to her, grateful that I didn’t have to hit play. “The question is, what do you plan on doing with it? Since you’re so concerned about Stuart’s welfare, did you think about what this might do to him? Having a sex video of his aunt flaunted—”

“Oh, I don’t plan on using it,” she says, giving me a look that says I should be ashamed for even considering it as she takes the phone.

“So why show it to me?” I blurt out, thoroughly confused.

“If I received this tape and, apparently so have you, have you considered who else might have the video? More importantly, why would anyone send this to us?”

It’s the same question I first asked myself when I discovered the tape, but dismissed once I married Simone. Now it’s a question that begs to be answered more than ever. Also, if the both of us have it, who else does?

“You obviously care about her more than I thought. Maybe Stuart as well,” she says, giving me an empathetic look.

My eyes dart to hers with wary guardedness. She just smiles in response.

“Does she even know you have the video?”

Something in my expression must answer the question for her because her smile disappears. “You should tell her.”

“What I discuss with Simone—my wife—is between us,” I say, annoyed at the defensive tone I hear in my voice.

My mother just gives me a patronizing smile, as though I was ten years old again. She rises from her chair and leans in, placing her hands on my desk. “Ten million dollars is nothing to you, Archer. I’m asking as a favor, as your mother, please consider it.”

“Is that a threat?”

She just stares at me with that annoyingly sympathetic smile. “Your job has you so jaded, son. It’s a request. I’m dropping the contest of guardianship—for now.”

I’m surprised, but I narrow my eyes at her. What are you playing at, Mother?

“No tricks, no ulterior motive. I truly do want what’s best for Stuart,” She leans in. “All I ask is that you take that into account before you say no to me.”

We stare at each other until the dust begins to settle. Then she pulls herself up and reaches down to collect her purse. As she walks away she turns back to me to give me one last look, and one last piece of advice.

“Do yourself a favor and tell her sooner rather than later, Archer.”

I watch her go, closing the door behind her.

When she’s gone, I fall back into my seat to pore over what just happened. I honestly can’t tell if I’ve won this battle or not.

One thing is for certain. I have no intention of ever telling Simone about that tape, not after all this time.