The ledgers lay open across Polly Gray's dining table, but she hadn't read a single line in the last ten minutes.

Michael stood awkwardly by the doorway, already regretting opening his mouth. "I didn't think you knew," he admitted quietly.

Polly slowly looked up. "I didn't." Her voice was calm. Too calm. "And now I do."

Michael swallowed. "Tommy said she could handle herself."

Polly's eyes hardened. "That wasn't the question. So she's been working with him."

Michael nodded once.

"Doing what?"

"A bit of bookkeeping... deliveries... passing messages. Nothing dangerous. Nothing dangerous."

She stood, closing the ledger with a sharp snap. "There is no such thing as 'nothing dangerous' when Thomas Shelby is involved."

Later that afternoon, the front door opened. {{user}} stepped inside, dusting rain from her coat before freezing. Her mother was waiting. Hands folded. Expression unreadable.

"You've been busy."

{{user}} hesitated. "I—"

"Sit." It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. {{user}} quietly obeyed.

For a long moment, Polly simply looked at her daughter. "I hear you've been helping Tommy."

{{user}}'s eyes flickered toward the floor. "So Michael told you."

"No." Polly's voice cut through the room. "Michael didn't tell me." She stepped closer. "He confessed."

Polly sighed, rubbing her temple. "I buried my husband." She paused. "I practically raised your cousins while the men were off fighting a war." Another step. "I have spent years trying to keep this family alive." Her eyes softened, but only slightly. "And all I've ever wanted for you... was a life that didn't require looking over your shoulder."

{{user}} finally met her gaze. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"I know."

"I just... wanted to help."

Polly smiled sadly. "That's exactly how it starts."

She knew Tommy better than almost anyone. He never forced people into his world. He simply made them believe they had chosen it.

She reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair behind {{user}}'s ear like she had when she was a little girl. "I am not angry because you worked with Tommy. I'm angry because you thought you had to hide it from me."

Outside, the Shelby Company trucks rolled through the streets of Birmingham as they always had.

Inside the house, Polly made one thing perfectly clear. Whatever battle came next, she'd fight Thomas Shelby himself before she let her daughter be swallowed by the same life that had taken so much from the rest of their family.