part 2
Grandpa folded his hands on the table and looked at each of us one by one.
Nobody dared to speak.
The room felt smaller with every passing second.
Dad finally cleared his throat.
“Can we stop making this into a scene?”
Grandpa didn't even look at him.
“No,” he replied. “This scene has been happening for years.”
Mom wiped at the corners of her eyes.
“We've only been trying to keep the family together.”
“By charging Ethan eight hundred dollars every month?” Grandpa asked. “While Claire pays nothing?”
Claire crossed her arms.
“You're making me sound lazy.”
Grandpa answered calmly.
“Then tell everyone what you contribute.”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
I looked down at my plate.
Suddenly every skipped vacation, every overtime shift, every paycheck that disappeared into my parents' account came rushing back.
Dad pointed at me.
“You make good money. You should help.”
“I did help,” I said quietly.
“For four years.”
The words landed harder than I expected.
Mom reached toward me.
“We never meant to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
Nobody spoke.
Even the children stopped playing in the next room.
Grandpa slowly reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and placed a thick brown envelope beside his plate.
“I brought this because I hoped I wouldn't need it.”
Dad frowned.
“What is that?”
“My attorney prepared it.”
The color drained from my father's face.
Grandpa pushed the envelope across the table toward me.
“I've been watching this family for a long time.”
Inside were bank statements, handwritten notes, and copies of checks with my name on them.
Every payment I had made.
Every transfer.
Every dollar.
“I asked Ethan to keep every record,” Grandpa said.
“I wanted proof.”
Claire's confident smile disappeared.
Dad stood so quickly his chair nearly tipped over.
“This is ridiculous.”
“No,” Grandpa replied.
“What's ridiculous is taking money from one child to finance another and calling it love.”
He stood for the first time all evening.
“Tomorrow morning, everyone is coming with me to my lawyer's office.”
Mom whispered, “Why?”
May you like
Grandpa looked directly at my father before answering.
“Because after what I learned tonight... I'm changing my will.”
