This time when I walk past my mother’s personal assistant she doesn’t even try to stop me. The look on my face must be murderous, which is understandable considering that’s exactly how I’m feeling.

“Archer!” my mother exclaims as I storm in, slamming the door behind me.

This time she’s alone, which is good.

“Tell me you didn’t know,” I say in a voice so calm and deadly her eyes go wide.

“Didn’t know what?” she asks.

“Don’t play dumb, Mother. Excelsior. I know they came to you with an offer. How involved are you with this?”

I saw the way she blinked at the name Excelsior and it stops me. A part of me had held out one tiny bit of hope that I was wrong. That look, confirming that she’s familiar with the company, breaks my fucking heart.

“Jesus, Mom. How could you?” I say, falling into the seat across from her. I finally feel the ache in my muscles after being so tense from the news I learned this morning in my office.

“What in the world are you talking about Archer?” she asks, now giving me a confused look that’s almost believable.

“Did you challenge our guardianship just so you could have control over Stuart’s half of Bennett Financial to sell to Excelsior?”

“Of course not!”

“How do you know them?”

A shroud of suspicion darkens her gaze as she looks at me.

“Tell me everything, Mother,” I say in a voice so low she shrinks away from me.

She stares at me a moment longer, then exhales and gives me a stubborn look. “I’ve needed a loan for some time now. Just to get this company to the next level,” she adds quickly. Then, she sighs. “I haven’t been successful so far, I’m just too new in this business.”

She pauses and looks cautiously at me. “Excelsior was the one to actually get in touch with me. It was almost a godsend. They promised me everything but hinted that it would be helpful if I could show I could be entrusted with something a bit bigger than Miranda Fashion. They knew about Stuart’s estate. I mean, everyone did, and they made it clear that if I somehow managed to become guardian over the estate then….well, the loan would be mine.”

She shrugs before continuing. “I didn’t see the problem with it. I had been considering challenging Simone for guardianship over Stuart anyway. Originally, I was planning on giving her a chance, see how well she managed and stepping in only if I needed to. Then when Excelsior came to me it just made since to start with her, which would have made it easier to gain guardianship over the estate.” She shrugs again, letting the rest trail off.

She gives me an irritated sigh. “I know you’re not happy with what I did, and you probably don’t believe that I also had Stuart’s best interests in mind. Contrary to what you’re thinking right now, he’s not just a payday for me, Archer. He’s my grandson and I do love him and want what’s best for him.”

“You played right into their damn hands, Mother,” I say, trying to keep my anger in check. “They weren’t about to give you a damn loan, Mom.”

“Archer, how in the world do you know about Excelsior?”

“They’ve been trying to buy into Bennett Financial for months. That would have been the only way you got anything, somehow managing to make it happen when you gained control. Do you know they tried to ruin us to get what they wanted? Ruin us! One of my own employees was sabotaging me.”

“I didn’t know about that,” she says, softer now. Then she straightens in her chair. “But I swear, I never promised them any part of Bennett Financial and they never asked for it..”

“They would have eventually, stringing you along until you caved.”

She stares at me, stubborning refusing to let that sink in.

I lean in to stick the dagger in. She more than deserves it. “And for that, Kevin and Bette were killed.”

That finally perks her up. “What?”

I stare hard at her. “They killed Kevin to get to you,” I say through gritted teeth.

Her hand flies up to her mouth in horror.

“No…” she whispers.

“Yes, Mother, we have proof.”

A loud sob escape her lips behind her hand. Before I can react to it, she’s bent over practically hyperventilating.

Now I’m the one blinking in surprise. I quickly round the desk to kneel in front of her.

“Oh…oh my God. Kev—Kevin! Oh my sweet boy…,” she wails. “What have I done? Oh, Archer…what have I done?”

I reach up and put my arms around her. I’m angry with her, but I realize that she’s been just as much a pawn in this as everyone else. Not even she would have willingly played a part in getting Kevin and Bette murdered. She falls into me, the same way Simone did and I let her cry it out.

“God, what have I done?” she repeats when she pulls away to look out of the window.

I rest a hand on her lap. “Mom.” I wait for her to look at me. “It’s not your fault. They were going to get rid of Kevin anyway. What he knew was too risky for them. Frankly, if you hadn’t challenged the two of us…who knows what they would have done to Simone and me? Or Stuart for that matter.”

The thought sends a chill down my spine.

“It is my fault,” she whispers, looking down at her hands.

“It isn’t.”

She stares at me with an uncertain look. For the first time that I can even remember, she looks vulnerable, human. Her make up is smeared, her face splotchy, eyes red. It pulls at something inside of me.

“The people who did this are going to pay…dearly. As for you…you’re going to drop any further challenge to Simone and me. This family has been torn apart too much already. I’m not going to let anything tear us apart any more.”

I wait for her to accept it with nothing more than a humble nod.

“We need to come together as a family, Mom. I’m not going to let this eat you up, we’ve all suffered enough. But I repeat, I’m maintaining guardianship over the estate and Simone is going to be his guardian. End of discussion.”

She just nods again, looking down at the floor.

I lean in and look at her. “But you are Stuart’s grandmother. You’re my mother. He needs you in his life…and so do I.”

Now she looks as though she’s going to cry again. Her hand reaches to cup my face. She strokes my cheek as a smile comes to her face. “You’ve changed, you know?”

“I think we’ve all changed,” I say returning her smile. “Kevin would be proud.”

“Yes, he would.”