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Three days later, Richard and Vivienne came downstairs dressed for the wedding. Navy and champagne. A matching couple out of a magazine.
They paused in the foyer when they saw me in the living room.
Vivienne smiled like a woman who had won.
"Josephine, don't be upset. The first time Caroline calls me Mom won't change anything. Every day after, she'll call you Mom. I'm just stepping in for a moment."
Richard frowned at me.
"If you hadn't let yourself go, Vivienne wouldn't have to carry the role for you today. Honestly, you should be thanking her. Don't make another scene."
He tossed the next line to me like loose change.
"Caroline is moving in tomorrow. Today I need you to clean this place until it shines. If you behave, I'll consider tearing up those divorce papers."
I looked at the contempt on his face and gave a small, neutral nod.
The new owners were taking possession later today. The cleaning wasn't going to be my problem much longer.
Richard's brow tightened at how easily I'd agreed. Something was off and he knew it.
Vivienne tugged his sleeve. "We're going to be late."
That cleared his head. They turned and left together.
I wheeled my suitcase toward the front door and nearly collided with Ethan coming the other way. He was in his rehearsal dinner blazer, hair fresh from a barber.
He stopped, annoyed. "Mom, seriously, what now? I've got so much on my plate today. Can you clean the house? It's a wreck. I have guests coming."
I looked at him blankly and stepped around him.
He grabbed my arm. "Mom. Where are you going?"
My voice was level. "Wherever I'm going is none of your business. I'm not your mother."
His eyes widened. Before he could process it, his phone rang. He fumbled to answer it while still yelling at me.
"Mom! If you can't help can you at least not make things worse? Dad and I are slammed today. If you walk out now, don't bother coming back!"
I didn't look back.
My son had forgotten that this house had been my inheritance. That it had never been his father's.
But he wasn't my problem anymore. None of them were.
I had wasted forty years on people who didn't deserve a single one of them.
Whatever time I had left, I was going to spend chasing my own life.