The poor girl I supported for three years slept with my husband and spent my money the whole time.
And when she shoved my son and me off that rooftop, laughing, she leaned close and said, "Your golden life ends right here."
My grievance wouldn't die. I came back.
I opened my eyes to find her kneeling in my living room, sobbing, begging me for three hundred thousand to pay for her mother's kidney failure surgery.
1
Margot Henson knelt dead center in the entryway, forehead scraped red from bowing, a crumpled diagnosis sheet clutched in her hand, weeping so prettily she could break your heart.
My mother-in-law, Rosamond Chavez, sighed over her teacup. A handful of distant relatives chimed in from every direction. Eugene Delgado stood by the window, impatience all over his face.
I stood in the doorway, and in my ears I could still hear Boris Coleman's screaming as he fell, and Margot's icy whisper against my cheek: Jasmine Fox, everything of yours is mine now.
I never imagined I'd actually come back.
And come back to this exact day, the first time Margot ever showed up begging for help.
In my last life, this was the very spot where I softened.
Not only did I transfer her three hundred thousand on the spot, I covered every cent of her mother's follow-up treatment after that. I doted on her like a real little sister, kept her fed and clothed, found her a job.
And in the end? I raised myself an ingrate who bit the hand that fed her.
Margot sobbed at me, "Jasmine, I know I shouldn't have come to trouble you. But I've got nowhere else to turn."
"My mom's kidney failure is terminal. The doctor says if she doesn't get the surgery she won't make it through the month!"
"Three hundred thousand is all I need for the medical costs. I'm on my knees begging you!"
And she drove her forehead into the floor again, hard.
Aunt Priscilla, the distant one, jumped in at once. "Jassie, sweetheart, your family's so well off. Three hundred thousand is what, the price of one handbag to you?"
"Help the poor child. It's a good deed, a blessing. How can you just stand there and watch someone die?"
Rosamond turned her accusation on me. "You've already supported her for three years. What's another three hundred thousand?"
"Margot's had a hard life. Her father died young, it's just been the two of them leaning on each other, and now the poor woman's lying in a hospital bed. If you won't lift a finger, word gets out and people will be pointing at this family behind our backs."
Eugene reached for me. "Jasmine, just give her the money!"
"We'll run it through the company account later. Call it corporate charity. Buys us a good name too."
The moment his fingers touched my wrist I yanked my arm away like I'd been burned.
In my last life he was exactly like this, playing the thoughtful husband who made my decisions for me, when the whole time he'd already been in bed with Margot.
This three hundred thousand was nothing more than the first sum the two of them conned out of me.
I lifted my eyes and swept them over everyone in the room, then let my gaze settle on Margot's tear-streaked face. "No," I said, flat and cold.
The living room went dead silent.
Margot froze mid-bow, her eyes full of shock, as if it had never once crossed her mind that I'd refuse so cleanly.
Aunt Priscilla recovered first, her voice all sour edges. "Jassie, what a thing to say!"
"The girl's on her knees. Where's your compassion? Your heart must be made of stone!"
I gave a cold little smile. "Aunt, you've got so much compassion. Why don't you put in a hundred thousand?"
"We'll scrape together the other two hundred. Consider it a blessing earned for your family. Quite a bargain, really!"
Her face stiffened, and she shrank back at once. "You know exactly what my situation is. My son just bought a house. Where would I ever get a hundred thousand?"
I let my eyes drift over the relatives lined up to enjoy the show. "You can't spare it," I said coldly, "so where do you get the nerve to demand I hand it over?"
"Three hundred thousand isn't pocket change. Whoever finds her so pitiful can pay for her."
"Don't climb up on your moral high ground and be generous with other people's money."
Rosamond exploded, jabbing a finger at my face. "Do you have any of a decent woman's kindness left in you at all?"
"You've disgraced this whole Delgado family!"
"The girl kneels at our door and you just refuse, flat out. Word gets around and how are your father and I supposed to show our faces in public!"
I answered calmly. "That isn't how kindness works."
"If it were really money to save a life, of course I'd help if I could. But who's to say this diagnosis sheet is even real?"
"Who's to say she'd take the money to a hospital and not somewhere else entirely?"
Margot burst into loud, wailing sobs. "How can you slander me like this!"
"Jasmine, I know you look down on me for being poor, but you can't gamble with my mom's life!"
"If I had any other option at all, I would never have come to beg you..."
Before she finished the words she swayed on her knees, looking like she was about to faint.
Eugene stepped in at once to catch her, then whipped his head around and roared at me. "Jasmine, you've gone too far!"
"You know exactly what kind of person Margot is. How could she possibly lie about something like this?"
"I'm telling you, this money, you're paying it whether you want to or not!"
I watched him shielding her and felt nothing but the sheer irony of it.
In my last life I'd been blind, that was the only reason I ever thought this man was steady and dependable.
I didn't give an inch. "If you want to play the good guy," I said mildly, "reach into your own pocket. Leave mine out of it."
With that I stopped bothering with their ugly expressions and turned to go upstairs.
Behind me came Rosamond's cursing, Margot's crying, and the vicious crash of Eugene hurling a cup.
I shut the door, leaned back against it, and felt a thrill I couldn't contain at being alive again.
Boris. My son.
This life, Mama will never go soft again. I will never let the wolf through the door again. No one will ever lay a hand on the two of us again.
