What the hell kind of family is this?
Claudia continued, unaffected by her daughters’ reactions, or lack thereof. “As you know, I took a lengthy trip to the United States. While I was there, I reflected on my life, on my marriage and on my motherhood. Frankly, I’m ashamed of much of it.”
Gage couldn’t help but turn to Claudia as she spoke. She sat erect, enunciating clearly, resolutely.
“I began my adulthood with good intentions and, at the time of my wedding to your father, I was deeply in love with him. He was unlike anyone I’d ever met. We enjoyed a lengthy courtship and I knew he was the man for me.”
“Is this going to take all day?” Ina asked, twirling her finger.
Displaying great patience, Claudia continued. “Things changed as time wore on. Your father grew distant and often hateful. This comes as no surprise to either of you. To most of his employees, he was like a king. But to his inner circle, especially those closest to him, he was often caustic and bitter. And he had a dark side few knew about.” She seemed to reset herself. “In the years of our company’s explosive growth, his stresses arose from his work, and a building resentment to me.”
The daughters fidgeted, appearing collectively uncomfortable.
“Why are you telling us all this?” Katja asked.
“Please be patient. I’m almost done,” Claudia answered. She smoothed her skirt, bolstering herself. “Though it’s not an excuse for my actions, I took part in a long-term love affair soon after Katja was born. It lasted a decade.” Claudia eyed Ina for a moment. “Ina, you may very well not be Karl’s child.”
Holy shit!
He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants as he studied the daughters. They were now rather stolid, both seeming to brace for more.
Gage couldn’t help but be floored by these revelations, and he was astounded they weren’t getting much reaction from the small audience. Cancer, followed by a long-term affair and a possible child from outside of the marriage—most families would be in shambles after hearing just one of the revelations.
“So, who were you screwing?” Ina asked, tucking her right leg up under the left.
“That’s not relevant, and please don’t speak of it that way,” Claudia replied evenly.
“I don’t know what else you’d call it,” Ina shot back.
Claudia ignored her and continued. “When he learned of my affair, Karl forgave me and asked me to end it. I did. He also accepted you as his own, Ina. Karl never desired to learn whether you were his, or not. And you could be, believe me, as he and I were still active in the bedroom, mechanical as it was, despite my relationship outside of our marriage.”
Gage stared at the carpet. Years before, he’d grown used to the typical German bluntness, but all this unvarnished sexual truth among a family was a bit much.
“You’re direct about this, but there’s so much more you refuse to acknowledge,” Katja blurted at her mother.
Finally, a reaction.
“Then, let’s discuss it,” Claudia said. “Here, and now.”
Neither daughter said a word.
“Nothing?” Claudia shrugged and clasped her hands on her lap. “Through it all, I don’t believe I was a very good mother. For that I make no excuse. But I cannot undo what is done, so I won’t try.” She gripped Gage’s forearm. “Now…I come to the presence of my new friend, Gage. He’s a native English speaker, but he’s fluent in German. He will live by my side until my death.”
“Why?” Ina asked, wrinkling her nose as if she smelled something awful.
“Because it’s my time of dying, and I can do as I please,” Claudia snapped, displaying anger for the first time. “And after you leave here today, neither of you are again welcome in this house unless I expressly invite you.”
Gage felt as if he were sitting in the dead center of the impact zone at Fort Sill, the home of the field artillery. Claudia rained down bomb after bomb after bomb.
Then came the first nuke.
The first one…
“Gage will protect me because I don’t trust either of you.” She let that linger for a moment. “And though I’m not certain, I believe one of you probably murdered your father.” Claudia paused. The room was silent.
Gage surveyed the two sisters—still, very little reaction.
“Why would you think that?” Ina replied, finally filling the gulf of silence.
“I’m certain he was murdered,” Claudia answered. “I’m not fully certain of who did it. As I said, I believe it was probably one of you.”
Katja waded into the fray. “The doctor said he died of a heart attack.”
“That’s only partly accurate,” Claudia replied.
“How do you know?” Katja demanded.
“I had an autopsy done. He was given a lethal injection.”
The two sisters hardly reacted.
“So, you’re telling us he was murdered and, the first time you reveal this to us, you blame us, too?” Katja snapped. “What kind of person does such a thing?”
“As I said, I know he was murdered, and I believe one of you did it,” Claudia replied evenly.
She fired off the second nuke…
“And as of today at one P.M.,” Claudia said, her voice slightly louder, “the two of you have been written out of my will. You will not receive a single euro when I die. You won’t get anything. There will be no property; no stock; no shares of business; no consideration; no goodwill. Nothing.”
Gage turned and gaped at Claudia. He watched as a thin smile creased her lips. He looked at the daughters. Both reacted with visible anger.
“Because you’re my daughters, I know what you’re thinking,” Claudia said. “You’re upset, because the Vogel fortune is rather large. But
