“Jealous.”
“You demanded I give away twelve thousand dollars because apparently being single means my savings matter less.”
Dad looked down.
I continued.
“When I told you the truth, you did not ask Chloe if it was true.”
“You threw me out.”
Mom whispered:
“I was trying to protect my daughter.”
“I’m your child too.”
That silenced her.
Thirty-two years compressed into those four words.
Dad stepped forward.
“We failed you.”
I looked at him.
“You texted me ‘disgraceful.’”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“Did you even ask what happened first?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He struggled.
“Because your mother was devastated.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He looked toward Chloe.
“I thought your sister had already suffered enough.”
“And I hadn’t?”
Dad had no answer.
Then he said:
“We were blind.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Sometimes blind means you couldn’t see.”
“You could.”
“You just automatically looked in Chloe’s direction.”
Mom started sobbing again.
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
I began listing things.
“Her private college.”
“My loans.”
“Her car.”
“My Taurus.”
“Her chemistry tutor.”
“Me figuring out calculus alone.”
“Her wedding.”
“My hospital stay she skipped.”
“This isn’t about keeping score.”
“It becomes about keeping score when the same person always wins.”
Mom covered her face.
Dad looked like he had been physically hit.
Then I turned to Chloe.
She had not spoken.
“Look at me.”
She slowly did.
Her eyes were swollen.
“Why?”
Her lips trembled.
“Leo.”
“Why?”
“I was trapped.”
“No.”
“You were dishonest.”
“I know.”
“You watched Mom attack me.”
She looked away.
“Look at me.”
She forced herself to.
“I gave you four thousand dollars.”
“I helped you move.”
“I sat through dinners listening to you describe Ethan as abusive.”
“You knew I believed you.”
Her face twisted.
“I was ashamed.”
“That doesn’t answer why.”
She started crying.
“Julian needed money.”
I almost laughed.
“So I was an ATM.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think of you like that.”
“You took my money and gave it to him.”
“I thought he was going to fix everything.”
“What does that mean?”
Chloe struggled to breathe evenly.
“If Julian left too, then everything I did was for nothing.”
That sentence was ugly.
It was also the first thing she had said that sounded honest.
She continued.
“I destroyed my marriage.”
“Ethan hated me.”
“I knew Mom would hate me if she knew.”
“Julian was the only thing left proving that maybe I hadn’t ruined my life for nothing.”
“So you kept feeding the mistake.”
She nodded through tears.
“He kept saying he just needed more time.”
“More money.”
“Yes.”
“And when I refused twelve thousand?”
“I panicked.”
“You let Mom call me selfish.”
“I know.”
“You let Dad do it.”