"What?" I exclaimed. I caught Henry's attention.

"You haven't heard?" Mother asked. She was surprised that I hadn't heard the big news concerning my husband's family.

“Heard what?” I asked, now curious because Mother never spoke about my husband’s family. But here she was, begging to know the truth.

“You haven’t heard that Helen plans to retire alongside Robin?” Mother continued, “She released a press statement. Check your phone.”

I turned to Henry. He was concerned about what Mother was saying. “It’s about your mother,” I told him. “She is leaving Richmond with Robin.”

Henry and I checked the press release Helen Robinson had made; Mother’s words were not far from the truth.Mrs. Robinson had gone public about her relationship with Robin. She had also stated their intentions to get married. Afterward, she would retire to Lake Tahoe, to live a normal life.Henry bit his lip. We’d just left his mother’s house a few hours ago and now, we were finding out that she was leaving Richmond for another town.Everything seemed to be changing so fast; it worried me as much as it worried Henry.However, tonight, I thought we needed some sleep.

Chapter thirty-seven

The Sudden Transformation

Henry

Troy thought that Mother wanting to reform Maymont Park was a way to get rid of Dad. Troy wondered why Mom was in a hurry to do that. He thought it was all about Robin, and maybe it had been about Robin all these years.However, Mother had made it obvious last night when she changed her mind about Maymont Park because of Robin’s input.

Troy and I felt betrayed that Mother wouldn’t do anything because of us, but she’d do it for her new man.Today, Troy and I couldn’t believe that Mother was riding off into the sunset with her lover, leaving behind the life she had built. She was leaving her family, and her empire, to be with a man who was not our father.However, her mind was made up, and there was no turning back. Troy was mad that we had to find out about Mother's retirement from the news.

Why didn’t she tell us last night over dinner? I felt like she was punishing us for a lot of things we had done to her.This was payback to Troy for disobeying her. This was also payback to me for edging Henry on in his quest to disobey her.Today, at eight a.m., Troy and I were seated again in Mother’s living room, hoping to hear directly from her. She looked good. Her bright lipstick caught my attention; it made me wonder why she would have lipstick on.

“You are leaving Richmond?” Troy asked. “We had to know about this over the internet news?”

“You weren’t in a good mood last night,” Mother replied. “How was I supposed to tell you when you wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.”

“You don’t prioritize your kids,” Troy continued. “We found out about Robin because Henry caught you with him. You didn’t even tell us about it. Three years mom, three freaking years.”

Mother shook her head, “You aren’t saying I don’t love you enough, are you?”

“I’m saying you don’t prioritize us,” Troy responded, gritting his teeth to curb his flying emotions.

Mother scoffed, "You dare lie to my face." She paused. "I've prioritized you all my life. This empire and the hospital your father and I built was all for you and Henry."

"Everything I've ever done was for this family, and now I've found a chance to be happy with Robin, and you are angry?"

Troy exhaled hard, "I'm sorry, Mom," Troy said. "I just couldn't accept this quick change."

Mother cut him off. “You never thought I was capable of falling in love?” Mother asked. “I also thought I wasn’t capable of falling in love until Robin.”

Troy fell silent. He glanced at me, and I took it as a cue to speak.“It’s okay, Mom. I wish you all the happiness you deserve.”

Troy walked in to hug our mother. “I’m sorry for acting that way. You deserve all the happiness in this life.

Troy and I spent more hours in Mother’s house.It felt like old times; before, we had a lot of responsibilities on our shoulders. Troy and I left before dinner, and while we walked to our car, we were reminded that Troy was getting married this weekend.It was such a great development; it was an even greater development to know that Mother was over getting Troy to do what she wanted.

I drove through the cold evening wind back to my house.It was tranquil with Amelia in my home. “You realized that your mother needs love as much as you do?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I did.”

I held Amelia by her waist, and she began to unbutton my shirt. “Do you think your mother and Robin will–”

I cut her off. “Oh, no, don’t paint a picture in my head.”

Amelia burst into a loud giggle. “I wasn’t going to talk about their sex life.”

“Oh, thank God,” Henry replied. “It would have been awkwardly gross.”