The moment I showed her the security footage, the color drained from her face.
“You followed Rachel,” I said.
Sabrina took a small step backward.
“Lola, you do not understand.”
“Then explain it.”
The softness disappeared from her expression.
“Your father was supposed to love your mother forever.”
“He did.”
“No. He replaced her.”
“He spent 12 years alone.”
“And that made dating acceptable?”
Her voice rose with every word.
“Your mother gave him everything. Then he smiled at strangers as if she had never existed.”
Anger pushed through my grief.
“You threatened six women.”
“I warned them.”
“You terrified them.”
“I protected your mother’s place in his life.”
“You protected nothing.”
Tears filled Sabrina’s eyes.
She admitted she had found every woman through my father’s dating profile.
She researched them online, followed them after their dates, and contacted them using temporary phone numbers.
Most of the women panicked, blocked my father, and disappeared from his life.
Rachel had been different because Sabrina already knew her.
“Why did you involve Graham?” I asked.
“She would not have listened otherwise.”
I stared at the woman who had held me through my mother’s funeral.
“You did not honor Mom. You used her.”
Sabrina covered her face with both hands.
I turned and left without trying to comfort her.
Rachel reported the threats to the police.
My father handed over the security footage from his cameras.
As part of the legal process, Sabrina eventually accepted responsibility for everything she had done and entered counseling.
