Chapter 4

Carol woke to the smell of antiseptic.

A hospital room. Frank was holding her hand, his face etched with worry.

"Panic attack," a doctor explained gently. "A severe one. Her blood pressure is still high. She needs rest, no stress."

No stress. Carol almost laughed.

Frank looked at her, his eyes filled with a fury she hadn't seen in years.

"I threw them out," he said, his voice tight. "Mike and that... woman."

He recounted how, after the ambulance took her, he had turned on them.

"You did this!" he'd roared at Mike. "Your own mother!"

Mike had stammered, "Dad, I... I didn't know..."

"You didn't know?" Tiffany had interjected, undeterred even then. "Or maybe Carol has been deceiving you too, Frank. For years. With her secret child."

Frank said he almost hit her. He'd ordered them out of his house.

Carol closed her eyes. The betrayal from Mike, his weakness, cut deeper than Tiffany's venom.

"Frank," she whispered. "I have to tell them the truth. About Izzy."

He nodded. "It's time."

Later that day, Mike came to the hospital alone. He looked wretched.

"Mom, I'm so sorry. I... Tiffany showed me those emails, she twisted everything..."

"And you believed her?" Carol asked, her voice weak but steady. "You believed I would betray your father? That I would hide a child from you?"

Mike flinched. "I didn't know what to think. She was so convincing."

"Michael," Carol said, disappointment heavy in her tone. "Izzy is Isabella Ramirez. When she was sixteen, her parents were deported. We met her through a community outreach program. We sponsored her education, her living expenses. She's a lawyer now. A successful one. She calls me 'Mom' because, in many ways, Frank and I are the only parents she has left."

Mike stared, aghast. "A lawyer? You... you paid for her college? Law school?"

"Yes," Carol said. "Every penny. And we'd do it again. She's a remarkable young woman. The 'birthday surprise' she mentioned was probably something small and thoughtful, because that's who she is."

Tiffany arrived then, pushing past a nurse who tried to stop her.

"What's this I hear?" she demanded, looking from Mike to Carol. "You're still trying to cover it up?"

Mike stood up. "Tiffany, stop. It's not what you thought. Mom explained everything."

Tiffany ignored him. "So you admit it! You gave all that money to some stranger instead of your own son! Your own granddaughter! Chloe needs things! We need things! You owe us that money for the fridge, and more, for all the years you prioritized a stranger!"

"Get out," Carol said, her voice gaining strength.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Tiffany shrieked. "You coddle this outsider..."

"Tiffany, shut up!" Mike finally exploded. He was pale, shaking. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You've made a horrible mistake! You accused my mother of awful things!"

"Mistake? She's been playing us all!"

The shouting match escalated. Nurses came running.