Chapter 38
Elena’s POV
My mother’s house looked the same as always. Small, neat, with flower boxes in the windows. So different from the mansion I lived in now.
I knocked and waited. She opened the door with a smile that still felt slightly unfamiliar. We’d never had a warm mother-daughter relationship, but since my marriage to Adrian, she’d been making an effort.
Money changes things. Even family dynamics.
“Elena, sweetheart, come in,” she said, stepping aside.
The house smelled like coffee and cleaning products. Everything was in its place, as always. My mother had never been affectionate, but she’d always been organized.
“I made tea,” she said, leading me to the kitchen.
We sat at the small table where I’d eaten countless childhood meals. She poured tea into delicate cups, and w
