The Debt of a Ghost

Summary

Three years after the divorce that gutted my life, I ran into my mother at a high-end steakhouse downtown.

She was at a corner table, laughing with a young girl who couldn’t have been more than five. When our eyes met, her expression faltered, a flicker of something uncomfortable crossing her perfectly curated face.

Before she left, she pulled an embossed business card from her designer clutch and slid a QR code toward me on her phone screen.

“Add me,” she said, her voice smooth and practiced. “I’ll transfer some money. Take your father out somewhere nice. Get a decent meal for once.”