Chapter 2 - The Golden Child’s First Lie
Dad stood so abruptly his chair scraped backward.
“Where is my retirement account?”
Mom rose too.
“Richard, sit down.”
“No.”
“Not in front of everyone.”
Grandma June folded her arms.
“You had no problem humiliating Morgan in front of everyone.”
Mom glared at her.
“This is our marriage.”
“No,” Grandma replied. “Apparently it’s Morgan’s bank account.”
Dad ignored them.
“Chase.”
My brother looked toward the doorway.
I knew that look.
He wanted to run.
Dad saw it too.
“Sit down.”
“Dad—”
“Sit.”
Chase lowered himself into the chair.
Dad put both hands on the table.
“How much did you take?”
Chase swallowed.
“I didn’t take anything.”
Dad looked at Mom.
She immediately said, “That’s technically true.”
I stared at her.
“Technically?”
Mom’s eyes flashed.
“Stay out of this.”
I laughed.
“I’m ninety-six thousand dollars into this, Mom. I’m already in it.”
Dad pointed toward Chase.
“Explain.”
Chase wiped his palms against his trousers.
“I needed startup capital.”
“For what?”
“My company.”
“You told me your investors funded the company.”
“They did.”
“Then why did you need my money?”
Chase hesitated.
Dad slammed his palm against the table.
A few glasses jumped.
“How much?”
“Richard,” Mom warned.
Dad turned.
“How much?”
She whispered, “One hundred eighty.”
Nobody spoke.
Dad blinked.
“One hundred eighty what?”
Mom stared at the table.
“Thousand.”
Aunt Rebecca gasped.
Dad laughed.
It was a hollow sound.
“One hundred and eighty thousand dollars?”
Chase leaned forward.
“It wasn’t supposed to be permanent.”
Dad stared at him.
“Did I give you permission?”
“You signed paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
Mom answered.
“A family investment authorization.”
Dad turned toward her.
“I signed a rollover document.”
Mom said nothing.
His expression changed.
“You told me it was moving my retirement into a lower-fee account.”
Chase jumped in.
“It was structured through an investment entity.”
Dad pointed at him.
“Did my money go into your business?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Dad looked toward Mom.
“And you knew?”
Her eyes filled.
“I was trying to help our son.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Dad stared at her.
“At the expense of our future?”
“He was going to pay it back.”
“I am going to pay it back,” Chase said.
I looked at him.
“With what?”
He frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You told everyone your company is exploding.”
“It is.”
“Then why couldn’t you pay Dad’s property taxes?”
His expression changed.
Dad noticed.
“So your company isn’t doing well.”
Chase stood.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I kept my voice calm.
“You couldn’t cover six thousand dollars in taxes.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“You leased a Porsche while Mom was calling me at midnight asking for mortgage money.”
His jaw clenched.
“I didn’t know she was doing that.”
Mom turned toward him.
“Chase.”
He looked at her.
“You told me you handled it.”
“I did.”
“With Morgan’s money.”
“No,” Mom snapped. “With family money.”
I stared at her.
“My paycheck is not family money.”
She looked shocked.
It was the first time I had ever said that.
Dad slowly sat down.
“How bad is it?”
Chase’s face tightened.
Dad repeated the question.
“How bad is your company?”
Chase looked around the room.
“This isn’t the place.”
Dad said, “You used my retirement fund. It became the place.”
Chase exhaled.
“I have assets.”
“Answer.”
“Cash flow is tight.”
“How tight?”
He didn’t answer.
I asked, “Are the Aspen units actually yours?”
Chase glared at me.
“I’m part of the project.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m involved.”
“That’s not ownership.”
He stared at me.
Dad looked between us.
“Chase?”
My brother finally said, “I don’t own the development.”
Aunt Rebecca whispered, “Oh my God.”
Dad’s face fell.
“Then what were all those pictures?”
“Marketing.”
“You told me you were developing it.”
“I’m raising investor capital.”
“You’re a broker?”
“Consultant.”
Dad sat back.
Mom immediately defended him.
“He’s still doing extremely well.”
I looked at her.
“Based on what?”
“Morgan.”
“No. Based on what?”
She said nothing.
Chase’s fiancé, Natalie, had been silent all night.
Now she spoke.
“Because that’s what Chase told us.”
Every head turned.
Chase stared at her.
“Natalie.”
She slowly removed her engagement ring.
Not dramatically.
Just carefully.
Then placed it beside her plate.
“I asked you three weeks ago if the company was solvent.”
Chase’s face went white.
“What are you doing?”
“You told me it was.”
“It is.”
“Then why did a debt collector call me yesterday?”
Mom looked stunned.
“What?”
Chase stared at Natalie.
“You went through my phone?”
“No. They called mine.”
“Why would they have your number?”
“Because apparently you listed me as an emergency contact on a loan application.”
Dad whispered, “What loan?”
Natalie looked at him.
“Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
The room exploded.
Mom shouted.
Dad swore.
Aunt Rebecca dropped her napkin.
Chase stood.
“It is secured business debt!”
“Secured by what?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
That silence told me more than any confession.
I looked at Dad.
“Whose collateral?”
Dad stared at Chase.
Then slowly turned toward Mom.
Mom’s face had gone pale again.
“Linda.”
She shook her head.
“Richard—”
“What did you sign?”
May you like
Mom began crying.
And I knew we were nowhere near the bottom yet.
