And somewhere along the way, she stopped pretending.
She became the granddaughter I wished I had.”
A woman sitting behind Patrice began quietly crying.
I pressed my hands together beneath the table.
I hadn’t expected this.
Not even remotely.
But Mr. Abernathy wasn’t finished.
He turned the page.
“There is one more thing I want everyone in this room to understand.
My daughter believes she hired this young woman to give me companionship.
She is wrong.
I was the one giving her something.”
Patrice suddenly looked up.
“What does that mean?”
The lawyer didn’t answer.
He simply continued.
“I learned about her family.
I learned about the medical bills.
I learned about the sacrifices her mother had made.
I learned that this young woman was working herself into the ground while trying to finish college.
And I learned that she never once asked me for anything.”
My breath caught.
How
