Mary was on the cusp of her 80th birthday, a milestone that seemed both monumental and just another day in her long life of ups and downs.

She had lived through storms and even stirred up a few herself.

Reaching this age, she was as crafty and sharp as they come.

Mary had a knack for playing her family like a chessboard, always staying several moves ahead.

From manipulating the press to force Maddox and Jennifer to adopt Leanne, to orchestrating moral dilemmas that led to Leanne's marriage to Curtis, Mary was always in control.

for all her scheming against her flesh and blood, it was Leanne, the adopted

of stubbornness and evasion,

to Leanne with a warmth that belied her usual demeanor. "How was your day

hanging and her smile fading into a

happened to

let's not talk about that. Can't things go back to how they were, with me doting

painful than any harsh word could ever be. As she tried to hold

out. "The man who kidnapped us... I

hovered before Leanne, fragile as a thin sheet of

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