Chapter 2

After I picked Mia up from preschool, I didn't drive home.

I drove straight to the downtown bank branch.

Sitting in the VIP room, I handed the teller the card I used to pay my brother's mortgage.

"I need to cancel the automatic payments on this account."

The teller typed, then looked up to confirm. "Ma'am, once we cancel the automatic payment, if a payment isn't made on time it'll affect the account holder's credit and incur late fees."

"I understand." My face didn't move. "Cancel it."

Years ago my mother cried and begged me, saying my brother couldn't get married without a house.

I gave in. On top of the down payment, I'd been covering the mortgage from my own card ever since.

All these years I thought I was providing for my own flesh and blood. Turns out I'd been feeding a pack of ingrates.

Walking out of the bank, I called the property management for my parents' complex.

"I'm the owner of Unit 802, Building 6. Please remove every facial-recognition and fingerprint authorization from the door system except my own."

"Yes. That includes my parents and my brother."

Once all of that was done, I took Mia out for a big dinner.

It was already nine by the time we got home.

Glen wasn't back yet.

I got Mia settled in bed, then sat alone on the living room couch, scrolling through my feed.

Polly had posted something new.

Set to visible only to me.

In the photo, Glen sat on the rug with his sleeves rolled up, building a big Lego castle with Finn.

His broad back to the camera, the picture of a doting father.

The caption read: "When a child grows up without a father's love, someone always comes along to pay it all back, principal and interest. So grateful for you."

A cold smile touched my lips as I looked at it.

I hit like.

A minute later, Polly deleted the post.

Probably because my reaction wasn't what she'd expected, and it left her unsettled.

At eleven-thirty, the front door beeped with the keypad lock.

Glen came in carrying a pretty cake box.

There was a famous trendy bakery downtown, the kind where the line usually ran two hours.

He walked up behind me, slid his arms around my waist, and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"You're still up, sweetheart."

He smelled faintly of perfume, the floral one Polly always wore.

"I was waiting for you." I didn't pull away. My voice was low.

Glen smiled and pushed the cake toward me.

"Bought this just for you. Stood in line forever. I neglected you at the field day today, so don't be mad at me."

His voice was so tender, as if he really were a husband who cherished his wife.

If I hadn't seen Polly's post, I might have been moved.

He'd used the time left over from playing with his illegitimate son to line up for a cake, and imagined it could cancel out every wound.

"Thank you, darling husband." I turned my head and looked at him.

Glen paused.

He'd found me so obedient today that he'd settled into that smug satisfaction of a man with the home front holding steady while he flew his other flags outside.

He leaned in to kiss my lips.

I tilted my head slightly, and his kiss landed on my cheek.

"I'm going to take a shower." I stood, keeping out of his reach.

Right then the phone on the coffee table started buzzing without stop.

It was my mother calling.

I picked up and put it on speaker.

"How could you do this?" My mother's voice rang through the living room.

"Your brother just got back to the complex and the door wouldn't open. Security said you canceled his authorization!"

"And I just got a text from the bank saying the mortgage account had insufficient funds and the payment failed!"

"What is this supposed to mean? You'd drive your own brother to the wall over some outsider?"

Glen watched me from the side, his brows drawn tight.

"Mom, I'm not throwing a tantrum." My tone was perfectly even.

"My money doesn't fall out of the sky. Since James blood is so precious, let Glen pay the mortgage instead!"

"Anyway, his head's full of his brother-in-law's project now. Let him call a stranger father if he wants to."

"You—you ingrate!" My mother cursed me down the line.

I hung up and blocked her.

Glen's face went completely dark.

"What are you doing? Is that any way to talk to Mom?"

He said it looking down at me, accusing.

"What did I say?" I looked at him. "I just stopped funding my brother. Is that wrong too?"

Glen sighed and came over to take my hand.

"I know you're upset. But your brother is family to us as well."

"Here's what we'll do. I'll pay the mortgage. Just don't fight with your family."

He thought money could solve everything.

"No need." I pulled my hand free.

Glen looked at me, impatience in his eyes.

"So what exactly do you plan to do? I'm exhausted. I don't want to argue with you."

He stopped, and his tone turned hard.

"By the way, there's something I want to discuss with you."

"Mia's guaranteed spot at the top-ranked school. Give it to Finn."

"It's hard for Polly, raising a child on her own. Finn needs a good start."

"Mia's a girl. I'll pay to send her to an international school later."

He looked at me and laid out the shameless demand like he had every right to it.