Chapter 2
When I returned home, I locked the door to my first-floor apartment behind me.
The duplex belonged entirely to me.
Logan and Chloe occupied the whole upstairs unit without paying a cent in rent.
My hands trembled slightly—not from fear, but from anger that had been building for far too long.
I removed my shoes and went straight into my home office.
Those fourteen faces at the restaurant stayed fixed in my mind.
They hadn’t been waiting for me.
They had been waiting for my wallet.
I opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out a thick gray binder marked “Family Support.”
I had spent my career as a bank manager, and keeping detailed financial records was a habit I had never abandoned.
I spread three years of statements across my desk.
Yellow highlights covered page after page.
There was the interest-free loan for Chloe’s new car.
There were the utility bills for the entire duplex, all of which I had quietly paid myself.
I picked up a notepad and began adding everything together.
With every new figure, the knot in my stomach tightened.
When I finally reached the total, I dropped my pen.
$58,412.30.
Almost sixty thousand dollars in only three years.
I had convinced myself I was helping my son and his wife establish a secure life.
Instead, I had been financing their luxuries.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Chloe appeared.
“You embarrassed us tonight. Let us know when you’re ready to apologize.”
Something inside me went cold.
Her guilt trips no longer had any effect.
I logged into my online banking account.
My first decision was simple.
I canceled the automatic monthly transfer into the household account I had been funding.
Then I opened my credit card account.
Chloe had been an authorized user for emergencies.
A few clicks later, her card was permanently deactivated.
Finally, I blocked Logan, Chloe, and every relative who had been sitting around that restaurant table.
May you like
The house became completely quiet.
But the real trouble hadn’t even started.
