Mabel finally escaped, crying and yelling that Angela was a beast. She called Jeff immediately and tried to paint herself as the victim.
But Jeff no longer trusted her version of events.
Later, when Angela calmed down, Papa James held her hand.
“My child,” he said, “that woman deserved it.”
Then Angela told him about her mother’s surgery and the mysterious person who had paid the bills.
Papa James sat up straighter.
“Someone paid all five million?”
“Yes, Papa.”
He squeezed her hand and looked at her with an expression she could not read.
“My child, blessings follow you because your heart is good.”
A week later, Angela was folding Papa James’s clothes in his room when she told him happily that her mother would be discharged from the hospital that evening.
Before she could say more, there was a knock at the front door.
Angela went to open it—and froze.
Her mother stood there smiling, looking healthier, dressed neatly, and behind her was one of Jeff’s drivers.
Angela nearly shouted. “Mama! How did you get here?”
