Chapter 6 - The Monthly Wire Transfers
The toast returned to Ryan’s mind.
Here’s to Ryan’s monthly wire transfers.
The laughter.
The glasses.
Linda’s proud smile.
Rachel’s glowing dress.
They had not simply accepted his help.
They had celebrated exploiting it.
The party was not a family dinner.
It was a festival of access.
Ryan looked through the glass doors into the ballroom. Banquet tables glittered with candlelight and crystal. Guests stood frozen among flowers and champagne, caught between curiosity and fear.
He stepped toward them with Emily behind him.
She clutched his jacket closed around her wet blouse.
Linda followed, furious.
Rachel stayed near the doorway, pale now.
Ryan raised his voice just enough for the gathered guests.
“Who planned this dinner?”
Nobody answered.
Linda’s face tightened.
“I did.”
“With whose money?”
“Ryan,” she warned.
He turned toward her.
“With whose money?”
Her mouth trembled.
No answer.
A man near the champagne table shifted uncomfortably.
Ryan’s eyes moved to him.
“You were the one who toasted my transfers.”
The man swallowed.
“I was joking.”
Ryan’s expression hardened.
“I’m not laughing.”
The ballroom froze.
Emily stood a step behind him, her wet hair dark against his black jacket. The harsh service-kitchen light spilled behind her, making the contrast unbearable: luxury in front, labor behind.
A guest whispered, “Is she okay?”
Ryan heard it.
He looked back at Emily.
Then at everyone.
“No,” he said. “She is not.”
Linda lunged forward emotionally, pointing toward Emily.
“She has turned you against your own family.”
Ryan stepped between them instantly.
His protective movement was so decisive that Linda recoiled.
Emily’s fingers tightened around the jacket.
“My family,” Ryan said quietly, “is the woman you left outside with dirty pots.”
Rachel’s face crumpled.
Not from remorse.
May you like
From recognition that the room had just changed sides.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because Ryan named Emily as his family in front of the guests, and Linda realized her control depended on him never saying it aloud.
