Page 87 of Tangled Roses

She raises her eyes. “Who is she?”

“Marsha Steele.” I drop the name like a bomb and study her reaction carefully.

“I believe you attended Two Points together.”

“Yes, we did.” Mama has a wistful expression in her eyes and says sadly, “We were four young, impressionable girls and forged a strong friendship. Marsha was the most outgoing one of all of us and managed to involve us in many scrapes.”

She laughs lightly and stares at Ellie. “Tell me Ellie, is she well?”

“Not really.” Ellie shrugs. “She was murdered a few days ago.”

We all stare at mama for her reaction and the blood drains from her face as she starts to shake.

“But, what…”

Her voice trails off as she turns whiter than snow and Titus says softly, “I’m sorry for your loss, Ellie.”

“Don’t be.” As expected, Ellie is dismissive of his condolences.

“I never knew her and she did everything to avoid me in life, so why should I mourn her now?”

Mama looks up and something in her expression is chilling as she whispers, “Please, Ellie, don’t be so cruel. Your mother was a hard woman, but she did what was right for you.”

Ellie says nothing and I waste no more time and say gruffly, “Marsha came to see me in my office in New York. Ellie was there.”

Mama bows her head, effectively disguising her expression, and I continue. “When she learned Ellie was in the room, she was afraid and broke down.”

“She was right to be afraid.”

Mama’s voice shakes and I notice her hands are too. I share a look with Titus, who nods and I continue.

“She told us that Ellie’s father was looking for her and under no circumstances was she to be found. She begged me to hide her and told us he had wanted her to get rid of the baby when he discovered she was pregnant. He paid Marsha a significant amount for her termination, but she kept the money and her baby.”

Mama places her head in her hands and you could hear a pin drop in the room before I carry on relentlessly.

“Ellie’s grandmother kept a diary and mentioned a visit from a woman who wanted to buy Ellie.”

Mama looks up and I note the shock on her face as she gasps, “Who?”

If anything, that makes me feel better because it appears she wasn’t personally involved and I shrug.

“We don’t know. Only that Ellie’s father is Russian and Marsha met him at a party that you all attended. Can you fill in the gaps, mama? Tell us what happened at Two Points?”

CHAPTER 55

ELLIE

This is brutal. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Arman and his brother are watching their mother with cold, calculating expressions and she is struggling. Even I can see that and yet I wouldn’t dare interrupt. It’s as if darkness has descended on the room and the air is toxic.

They are angry. I feel it swirling around me, choking me, threatening me, and I’m not even the one in their line of fire.

This is their mother and yet they are brutally cold and I wonder why.

She takes a deep breath and then faces them with a proud gleam in her eyes and snaps, “How dare you?”

She glares at both of them and says defiantly, “There is no big mystery about Two Points. No hidden agenda and nothing to tell. I was friends with three women, that is all. What happened after they left is nothing to do with me because I met your father and we were married soon after.”

She fixes me with a disappointed frown and says angrily, “To answer your question, yes, we attended a party and yes, your father was there with some friends. I believe Marsha took the fancy of one of them, but I didn’t get the details on that. I left with Veronica and Adele that night because Marsha insisted on remaining, and from what she told us the next day, any one of them could have fathered her child.”