"I'd heard from relatives and friends that Mother was getting unstable, but you were already in the hospital by the time I got there. She was furious that I wanted to take you away. In the end, I bought you, the same way my husband bought me."

"So that money I sent to her..." Pranthi put the cup down and sloshed tea across the table.

"Was the gift of a loving daughter and sister. I made a one-time payment which caused the only serious fight my husband and I ever ...