Chapter 13: The Fall of Diane
The next morning, Diane called Maya directly.
Maya almost didn’t answer. But something in her wanted to hear what the woman had to say.
“You’ve gone too far,” Diane said as soon as Maya picked up. Her voice was shaking with anger and fear. “Eric is my son. You have no right to drag him into this mess. This is between you and him.”
“No,” Maya said. “It stopped being just between us the day you took the money meant for my daughter’s birth. The day you stood there and let me fall into that pool. The day you planned to steal even more while I was in surgery.”
Diane was quiet for a moment.
Then she said, “It was Eric’s idea. All of it. He came to me. He said we could make things easier if we moved some money around. I was only trying to help my son.”
Maya almost laughed.
“You’re still lying,” she said. “Even now. Even when you know I have the proof.”
She ended the call without waiting for a response.
Later that afternoon, Elena called with an update.
“Eric’s lawyer reached out. They want to negotiate. And apparently Diane has already started distancing herself from him. She’s claiming she was only following his instructions.”
Maya looked out the window of her apartment. Lily was still in the NICU, but the doctors said she could come home in another week or two if she continued improving.
“They’re turning on each other,” Maya said.
“It happens when people get caught,” Elena replied. “What do you want to do?”
May you like
Maya was quiet for a few seconds.
“I want them to lose everything they tried to take from us,” she said. “And then I want them to understand that they will never touch my daughter again.”
