"What do you want?" Mrs. Robinson asks, holding a flute of champagne and gazing at the artwork as well.
I look at her, but she doesn't look at me. She still looks like she fears me or what I can do. "Excuse me?"
Mrs. Robinson finally turns to me. "What do you want so that you will stay out of my life and away from my family?"
I am lost; and when she looks at me, she asks me to name my prize. She wants me to disappear from their life. "Mrs. Robinson." I swallow the words. "I don't know what you are talking about."
She frowns. "I think you know," she insists. "I should have listened to Troy when he thought your coming into our family was planned. I should have listened to him!"
“I am so confused,” I reply. “What is going on?”
Mrs. Robinson bites her lip; she thinks I am still lying and am still fooling her by acting innocent.
"Camile Howard," she calls my name. "George Howard's only daughter, and you want me to believe it is a coincidence that you find yourself entrenched in my family?"
I raise my eyebrows. “Yes,” I say, “because I don’t even know my father. I haven’t met my father.” I pause and then ask, “What does this have to do with my father?”
Mrs. Robinson stares with hard eyes; she is starting to believe that I have no idea what she is talking about. "I think you have a lot to discuss with your mother." She flicks her tongue with arrogance. "I will offer you ten million dollars to disappear from my family. You and your mother will go away from Wallace and never coming back here again. I want you out of my son's life." As she strides off, I look at her back view, and my eyes meet Troy's at the edge of the room. He joins his mother, and they whisper something into each other's ears.
"Are you okay?" Amelia's touch jolts me. I look up at her, and my shoulders suddenly relax. "I have been calling you for a while now. What did Mrs. Robinson tell you?"
I try to speak, but I can only stutter. "She mentioned my father," I explain, "and about wanting me and Mother to disappear from Wallace with ten million dollars."
Amelia’s eyes widen. “That is a lot of money,” she says in awe. “Why does she want you to leave?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.” I reply, “but I think it has something to do with my father, George Howard.”
Amelia gulps. "Your father is George Howard?" she asks. I can see the surprise on her face.
“What do you all know about my father that I don’t know?”
Amelia looks around before she speaks in a low tone, "I heard my parents talk about a George Howard a few weeks back," she starts. "They said he was Troy's father's best friend. They founded the hospital together."
My throat goes dry as I hear Amelia talk about my father. I am in awe, as she tells me that my father used to own the hospital. Amelia looks like she is holding back some other information.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I ask, but she gets nervous and apologizes for not telling me about him.
"I didn't know you are George Howard's daughter. Now that I think about it, it is cool if you are on some mission to get back at the Robinsons for what they did to your father. I want to tell you that I support whatever you want to do to them."
I shake my head; I am more confused than ever. Everyone who knows me thinks I am on a mission to avenge my father, making me want to know what they did to him.
"What did they do to my father?" I ask, and Amelia rolls her eyes. She sighs and tells me what Mrs. Robinson told me. I need to have a long conversation with Mother.
I find Mother in the living room, engrossed in knitting. She looks up and drops the wool immediately as if she can tell that I need to converse with her.
"Are you okay, honey?" Her words resound in my ear. She attempts stand, but her nurse comes out to help her sit back in the chair.
“Camile,” she says, “what is wrong, honey?”
I walk over and take a seat next to her. “Is it true that my father and Troy’s father were friends?”
Mother's eyes widen. "I was hoping we'd have this conversation earlier." Mom pauses and adds, "Yes, it is true, your father was best friends with Troy's father."
I sigh, glad to finally know the truth.
"Is that why you thought I should infiltrate the family, marry Troy, and enjoy the luxurious life they live?" I stop to catch my breath. "You want the life because you think they are living the life their father stole from us?"
Mother nods and wipes away the tears falling on her left cheek. "I am sorry, Camile," she admits. "You deserve to know the truth. I am sorry it has to be this way."