Chapter 10 - THE RELATIVES
Matthew called me.
I almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Did you pay Connor’s college?”
Connor was his son.
“Part.”
Matthew became silent.
“We thought Daniel did.”
“I know.”
“He told us he set up an education account.”
“There is no account.”
“Then what have we been using?”
“Payments from Hawthorne.”
He swore.
Then:
“What about Dad’s medical bill before he died?”
“I paid that too.”
Silence.
Forty-two thousand dollars.
Daniel asked me privately.
“Mom will be humiliated if she knows.”
I paid hospital directly.
Evelyn later thanked Daniel for “handling everything.”
He accepted.
Matthew whispered:
“Jesus.”
Not every relative was a parasite.
Some had been lied to too.
Aunt Susan called next.
She knew I paid her medical supplement.
She said:
“Your husband told me it was a family fund you both created.”
Close enough.
She apologized for nothing because she had not done anything wrong.
Good.
Then cousin Robert called angry because his travel card stopped.
That one was easier.
“You’re thirty-nine.”
“So?”
“Get your own card.”
May you like
He hung up.
Family truth separated people quickly.
