Crown Jewel by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online

You have bags of jewelry. You told me once you had it all appraised, and it came in just under two million dollars. Sell it. Get a job. Sell off the cars and the boat, that’s another half million, maybe more. If you invest it all, you can live the rest of your life in comfort. Perhaps not as lavishly as you lived with Philip, but it will still be a nice lifestyle. You told me you’d banked all the money you earned in the islands, so I’m having a hard time feeling sorry for you.”
    â€œYou are an ungrateful young woman!” Roxy murmured. “All that bad stuff you are so fond of throwing at me, it was all for you. I had to take care of you the best way I could. I’m sorry if I wasn’t a better mother. I’m also sorry your real father doesn’t want to know you. I can’t change those things. I neither want nor expect you to feel sorry for me. I need some time to come to terms with…with everything.”
    Reba sighed. She’d heard all this before, too. “Mom, look around. Do you really need all this opulence? This bedroom alone could accommodate a family of four. What I don’t understand is why you would try to… steal from your husband. Greed is a terrible thing.”
    â€œAren’t we sanctimonious this morning? That greed managed to get you through college and medical school, now didn’t it? I earned it, that’s why.”
    â€œMom, I could have had grants and scholarships, and I would have found a way to make it on my own. Philip’s generosity just made it easier for me. I thank God every day for that generosity. By the way, you can have the two thousand dollars Philip left me.”
    â€œYou’re a fool,” Roxy said, teetering out of the room.
    Reba wiped at her eyes. “Yeah, Mom, I guess I am,” she said under her breath. She’d liked Philip Lam. On the rare times when she came home from school, he always managed to have at least one long talk with her. She’d hungered for more but settled for the long talks. He always paid attention to what she said and how she said it. He also seemed to value her opinion. She’d been profuse in her thanks for all his help. His response had been a wave of the hand and the words, “When God is good to you, you have to give back. You are a worthwhile human being, Reba. Always remember that.” A week after that particular talk, she’d been stunned to receive a letter from a well-known brokerage house. It said twenty-five thousand dollars had been deposited in a new account bearing her name. The most she’d ever had in her meager checking account at one time was two hundred dollars. She couldn’t comprehend the amount. Following the transaction, she’d received a letter from Philip saying he’d handle her tax forms and the gift tax and not to worry about it. He’d added a postscript that said, let’s keep this just between you and me. She knew she wasn’t supposed to tell her mother, and she hadn’t. She’d never spent a penny of the money either. She had no idea what the account was worth today. But after eight years of earning interest the tidy little sum had probably grown to thirty or thirty-five thousand. She wondered what her mother would say if she knew. Well, she isn’t going to find out from me. Philip wanted it kept a secret, and it will forever remain a secret.
    During her teen and college years, she often wished that Philip would act more like a father to her. Secretly, she suspected, he didn’t know how to show his feelings. He was proud of her, that much she did know. He respected her hard work, her good grades, and her ability to get along on almost nothing. His eyebrows had shot up to his hairline the day she’d told him she worked in the Gap twelve hours a week, hating every minute of those twelve hours, so she could get the discounted clothing. He’d approved.
    When she’d told him she was going