Chapter 16 - Vance’s Mother CallsThe call came unexpectedly.
Celia almost ignored the unfamiliar number.
“Celia?”
The voice was older.
“This is Marianne.”
Vance’s mother.
Celia had met her only twice.
Vance described their relationship as distant.
“What do you want?”
“I want to talk about my son.”
Celia nearly ended the call.
Then Marianne said:
“He did this before.”
Celia stopped.
“To a child?”
“No.”
The answer mattered.
Marianne explained that Vance had always reacted badly when he felt financially cornered.
At twenty-six he destroyed furniture after a business partner withdrew.
At thirty-one he shoved his younger brother during an argument over money.
At thirty-four he threw a phone through a wall.
No known prior abuse of a child.
No hidden criminal record.
But a pattern of rage tied to humiliation and loss of control.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because he called me.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did he say?”
“That you destroyed him.”
Celia almost laughed.
Marianne continued:
“He said Theo ruined the company.”
Celia’s anger sharpened.
“His company was failing before Theo broke a vase.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That everybody chooses the boy.”
Celia went still.
There it was.
Not simply money.
Jealousy.
Vance had entered a family built before him.
Andrew’s house.
Andrew’s trust.
Andrew’s son.
Celia’s loyalty to Theo.
He could tolerate being second to a dead husband only if he could control what the husband left.
Theo was harder.
Theo was alive.
Marianne said:
“When Vance was little, he hated sharing attention.”
Celia resisted turning childhood into destiny.
“Lots of children do.”
“Yes.”
“I need facts, not explanations.”
Marianne was quiet.
“Fair.”
Celia respected that.
Marianne offered investigators old business records showing earlier financial problems Vance had hidden from family.
Useful context.
Not proof of the current offenses.
Celia thanked her.
Before hanging up Marianne whispered:
“I am sorry for what my son did.”
Celia did not say it was okay.
It was not.
She simply answered:
“Thank you.”
Theo later asked who called.
“Vance’s mom.”
“Is she mean?”
“I don’t know her well enough.”
“Is she mad at me?”
“No.”
Theo looked relieved.
Vance had built a world in which adults were always choosing sides against Theo.
Celia needed to keep dismantling it.
That afternoon Rachel brought news from the trustee.
The bank had approved funding from Theo’s trust for therapy related to the trauma, as permitted under trust terms for Theo’s health and welfare.
Celia hesitated.
“I can pay for therapy.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t use his money.”
Rachel looked surprised.
“It is his trust and this is exactly the type of expense—”
“No.”
Celia thought.
“Not because I think using it is wrong.”
“Then why?”
“Because I can afford this.”
She looked toward Theo.
“His money should not be the first answer to every problem in his life.”
Rachel smiled slightly.
“Andrew would approve.”
“Andrew would ask for a spreadsheet.”
“That too.”
Celia paid the therapy bills herself.
Not as punishment.
As a boundary.
Theo’s trust was protection.
Not a family checking account.
May you like
Vance had never understood that distinction.
Celia would.
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