“We didn’t think it would become… this.”
My mother came in from the kitchen and froze. My father laughed once, then the sound died as he sank into his chair.
“We were protecting the family,” he said. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Protecting who? Not Graham’s mother. Not me.”
“You have no idea what it took to build what we have.”
“When Daniel died, the bank started asking questions. We told ourselves we’d pay it back once the business was stable. Then one year became twenty, and by then the truth would’ve destroyed everything.”
My mother swallowed hard.
“We didn’t think it would become… this.”
“You’ll regret choosing that boy over blood.”
“And Carl?” I asked. “His father was in on it from the start, wasn’t he? That’s why you pushed him at me so hard.”
My father’s jaw tightened.
“Carl never knew the whole story,” he muttered. “Robert kept him out of it.”
