The paper crackled as Hannah unfolded it on the mahogany table.
For the first time since she had entered the Ralston mansion, none of the four boys moved.
Victor looked down at the document.
He did not read it closely.
He did not need to.
The formatting, the attorney’s name, the language near the top were enough for him to recognize what kind of letter it was.
Hannah kept one hand over the lower half.
“This is from my son’s father,” she said.
Mason’s eyes went from the paper to her face.
“You have a kid?”
“A seven-year-old.
Ethan.”
Noah frowned.
“Where is he?”
“With my neighbor tonight because I worked late yesterday and came straight here for this interview.”
Oliver, who had spent the last several minutes trying to look bored, stopped swinging his feet beneath the chair.
Theo asked the question Hannah had expected from him.
“What does the paper say?”
“That his father thinks he should live with him instead of me.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Ms.
Brooks, you don’t have to discuss a private legal matter with them.”
“I know.”
She folded the top edge of the letter down so the details remained covered.
Then she looked at Mason.
“But your son just told me that because I need this job, he can make me do anything.”
Mason’s shoulders tightened.
Hannah’s voice remained even.
“He was wrong.”
The boy stared back at her.
“If you wreck this room, I won’t scream.
If you insult me, I won’t bargain.
If your father fires me, I’ll walk out the front door.
I will be scared, and tomorrow I will figure out what comes next.”
She tapped the folded letter once.
“But you do not get to decide whether I abandon my son.”
Mason’s eyes flicked away.
Hannah had expected triumph to disappear from his face.
She had not expected fear to replace it.
Theo saw it too.
He whispered, “What if somebody has to leave?”
The question was so soft that even the rain against the windows seemed loud around it.
Victor moved first.
“Theo—”
“No,” Hannah said gently.
Victor stopped.
She had told him not to rescue them from dinner.
Now she realized he had been rescuing them from something else for much longer.
Hannah sat in the chair across from Theo.
“Sometimes people have to leave,” she said.
“Sometimes people lose jobs.
Sometimes grown-ups separate.
Sometimes terrible things happen that nobody chooses.”
Theo stared at his empty plate.
“Our mom went to the hospital.”
Victor closed his eyes.
