Page 16 of The Manor of Dreams

Small cracks branched out from the window casing into the walls, but they seemed to be… growing? Moving? Was it a trick on her eyes? And then she realized that they werevines.It was as if they had crept indoors somehow through the cracks in the window trim.

Her mother’s voice snapped Madeline back to the conversation. “I just talked to her nurse. She said that Ma had been exhibiting strange behavior. That it resembled dementia.”

“How so?” Aunt Rennie asked.

Ma hesitated. “She said some weird things. Point is, our mother was already in a fragile mental state.”

“You don’t think she could have…” Aunt Rennie’s voice lowered. “Done it to herself? Overdosed?”

“She wouldnever,” Ma snapped. “Don’t you even say that.”

Aunt Rennie shrank. Madeline protectively inched closer to her aunt.

Her mother’s voice rose. “It’s clear. Elaine coerced Ma into changing the will and then she murdered her to get the inheritance. And now we have proof. At the very least we could settle. And at most, well, we can prove murder.”

“Okay,” Madeline said cautiously. “What now?”

“We just have to buy time. I found some things the other day. I—”

But Madeline never heard the end of the sentence, because Ma fell silent for a long minute. She tilted her head and slowly looked off to the side. Before Madeline could ask what she was doing, Ma was wrenching open the door, revealing Nora Deng in the hallway.

NORAran. She heard Lucille shouting at her across the foyer as she ducked into the hallway leading to her and her mother’s rooms.

She knew the Yins had been plotting something with their whispered conversations and secretive meetings.

She murdered her to get the inheritance. And now we have proof.

Nora knew they were talking about her mother. But what was the proof?

She raced straight to Ma’s bedroom. The curtains were drawn. Ma shifted in bed, blinking against the light. Nora tried to keep calm. “They think you had something to do with Vivian Yin’s death to get the inheritance. They say they have evidence.”

“What?” Ma pushed herself off the bed. She staggered past Nora and into the hallway to the foyer. Nora followed her. The other family had emerged from the library. Lucille marched toward Nora. “You had no right—”

“I’m kind enough to let you stay in my home,” her mother said with a shaking voice. “And you’re investigating me?” Lucille stopped in her tracks.

“Yourhome?” Lucille said incredulously. “Fuck off.”

Her mother drew herself up. “She gave it to me.”

“You took it.” Lucille gave Ma a withering stare, looking her up and down in disgust. Nora realized then that she was self-conscious Ma was wearing mismatched pajamas. “We got the autopsy results. Her toxicology report was positive.”

Silence fell. Nora glanced at Madeline. The daughter’s eyes flickered uncertainly between her mother and Nora’s.

“Ma didn’t die of natural causes,” Lucille continued in a steely voice. “She was poisoned.”

“I see. And you’re trying to imply that I had something to do with this?”

“Ididn’t say that.” Lucille’s eyebrows raised, clearly implyingbut you did.

Nora blurted out, “You can’t be accusing her ofmurderingsomebody. That’s insane.”

“Jia-Jia!” Ma said sharply, and Nora swallowed, her cheeks burning. Ma turned back to Lucille and took a deep breath. “I had nothing to do with Vivian’s death. I didn’t even know I was being put in the will.”

“That’s a lie,” Lucille retorted. “You’ve had it out for us from the start. This is an estate in the San Gabriel Valley. These don’t just fall into people’s laps.”

They stared each other down.

“There could be many explanations for this toxicology report. It could have been anything. An overdose. A suicide.” Her mother looked between Renata and Lucille. “Or… even someone in the family.”

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