“I’m done,” I said.
Madison grabbed the phone from him.
“Do you know how embarrassing this is? My card got declined at brunch.”
“That was my card.”
“You never cared when you were paying before.”
There it was. Not a mask slipping, but the real face underneath finally turning toward the light. Kyle shouted in the background, “Tell her the bank locked the account!” Dad came back on.
“Listen carefully. If that vendor pulls credit, I lose the Riverside contract. If I lose that, I lose the business. If I lose the business, the house goes. Your mother’s retirement goes. Everything goes.”
I waited for guilt to rise. It came out of habit, weak and automatic, like an old alarm clock ringing in an empty room. Then I remembered Denise changing my IV while my mother sent heart emojis under Madison’s lobster photo.
“You should call Madison,” I said. “She deserves support.”
Then I hung up.
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