Before he could respond, the door burst open. My husband, Mark, and my mother-in-law, Vivian, walked in loaded down with shiny shopping bags stamped with luxury logos—brands I could barely afford to look at. They claimed they had just been “running a few errands.” Their voices were bright and carefree… until they noticed my grandfather sitting beside my bed.
Vivian stopped short. The bags shifted in her arms. Mark’s grin disappeared instantly as his gaze flicked between me, my grandfather, and the tension written across my face.
My grandfather broke the silence with a voice so calm it was terrifying. “Mark… Vivian… I’d like to ask you something.” His eyes never left them. “Where, exactly, has the money I’ve been sending my granddaughter been going?”
Mark swallowed. Vivian blinked rapidly, her lips pressing together as if scrambling for a story. The air in the room felt thick and heavy.
I hugged my newborn a little closer, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
“Money?” Mark finally stammered, his voice unsteady. “What—what money?”
My grandfather straightened slowly, his face darkening with a kind of anger I had never seen before. “Don’t insult my intelligence. Claire has received nothing. Not a single dollar. And now I believe I know exactly why.”
The room went completely still. Even my baby fell quiet.
Then Grandpa spoke again—his words cutting straight through me.
“Do you really think I don’t know what you’ve been doing?”
The pressure in the room became suffocating. Mark’s grip tightened on the shopping bags, while Vivian’s eyes flicked toward the doorway, as if she were weighing the chance of escape.
Grandpa took one deliberate step toward them. “For three years,” he said evenly, “I’ve sent Claire money so she could build a secure future. A future you both swore you would protect. And instead—” His gaze dropped to the luxury bags. “—you built one for yourselves.”
Vivian forced a nervous smile. “Edward, this has to be some sort of banking error. Surely—”
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