Chapter 3
Ryan froze.
The color drained from his face.
“What will?” I asked.
Diane sat in the armchair by the window.
She crossed her legs.
“Your husband’s father’s will. The one I never told him about until last month.”
I looked at Ryan.
“What is she talking about?”
He swallowed hard.
“Dad had a life insurance policy. And some stocks. He left everything to me. But there’s a condition.”
“What condition?”
“I have to… take care of Mom. For the rest of her life. If she ever moves out of my house, or if we have a falling out that results in her being unhappy, the money goes to charity. All of it. Two point seven million dollars.”
I sat back down.
Two point seven million.
That was enough to pay off our mortgage.
Enough to send Noah to college.
Enough to never worry about bills again.
We’d been living paycheck to paycheck for years.
I worked twelve-hour shifts at the hospital.
Ryan sold cars.
Some months we barely made it.
Now it made sense.
Why Diane had moved in three months ago “for a short visit.”
Why Ryan had let her rearrange the whole house.
Why he’d been walking on eggshells around her.
Why he’d agreed to get rid of Buddy.
“You didn’t tell me,” I said quietly.
“I was going to. I just… didn’t know how. I needed time to figure it out. To see if we could make it work.”
“Make what work? Selling our son’s happiness for money?”
“It’s not selling anything! It’s security. For all of us. Noah included. Think about his future. College. A house of his own. We could give him everything we never had.”
“Except a mother and father who protect him.”
Diane spoke up.
“That’s unfair, Emma. I love Noah. I only want what’s best for him. A dog is a temporary pleasure. Financial security is forever.”
“You threatened to starve him,” I said.
“I was frustrated. I said something I shouldn’t have. I apologized to him already. Didn’t I, Ryan?”
Ryan nodded slowly.
“She did. Right after it happened. She felt terrible.”
I stared at them.
Husband and mother.
United against me.
Against Noah.
Against Buddy.
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “For two point seven million dollars, we let your mother live here forever. We let her throw out our son’s things. We let her threaten him. We get rid of his dog. And we just… accept it?”
“Not forever,” Ryan said. “Just until… until things settle down. Once we have the money in a few years—”
“The money is released only after I die,” Diane said smoothly. “Or when Ryan turns fifty-five. Whichever comes first. That’s what the will says. So we have many happy years ahead of us as a family.”
Twelve more years.
Noah would be twenty-one.
He’d spend his entire childhood under Diane’s roof.
Under her rules.
Without his dog.
Without his mother being able to protect him.
I stood up.
“No.”
Ryan blinked.
“No?”
“No. I’m not doing this. Not for any amount of money. Not for two million. Not for ten million. My son comes first. Always.”
“Emma, be reasonable—”
“I am being reasonable. You’re the one who’s lost his mind. You’re choosing money over your own child.”
“I’m choosing our family’s future!”
“Then you’re choosing wrong.”
I walked to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To get my son. We’re leaving.”
Diane stood up.
“Leaving? Where would you go? You can’t afford a hotel on your salary. Not with the hours you work. And who would watch Noah? Daycare costs a fortune. You need us, Emma. Whether you want to admit it or not.”
She was right.
And she knew it.
That was the worst part.
I made good money as an ER nurse.
But with student loans, the mortgage, car payments, and Noah’s activities, we had almost nothing left at the end of the month.
If I left, I’d have to move into a tiny apartment across town.
I’d have to work even more hours to pay for it.
I’d see Noah even less than I did now.
And Diane would be here.
In my house.
Raising my son her way.
Ryan saw the conflict on my face.
He stepped closer.
“Emma, please. Don’t do this. We can work it out. Buddy can stay—”
Diane made a noise.
“Ryan, the will—”
“Mom, just stop! Okay? Just stop for one second.”
He turned back to me.
His voice was desperate.
“Buddy can stay. I’ll cancel the appointment tomorrow. I’ll get the money back. We’ll build a big fence in the backyard. He can have his own dog house. He’ll be outside mostly. Noah can visit him whenever he wants. That way everyone is happy. Mom doesn’t have to deal with the hair and the smell inside. Noah keeps his dog. We keep the money. It’s a compromise.”
I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
The man I’d fallen in love with at twenty-two.
The one who’d stayed up with me through every bad shift.
The one who’d held Noah the night he was born and cried harder than I did.
He was still there somewhere.
Beneath the fear and the money and the weight of his mother’s expectations.
“Outside?” I said.
“With a heated dog house. And a big run. I’ll build it myself this weekend. Noah can help. It’ll be a father-son project.”
Noah’s door opened down the hall.
He peeked out.
“Buddy can stay?”
Ryan’s face softened.
He walked to his son.
“Yeah, buddy. He can stay. We’re gonna build him the coolest dog house in the whole neighborhood. With a porch and everything.”
Noah’s face lit up.
For the first time since I’d come home, he smiled.
“Really?”
“Really. And I’m sorry. About everything. I should have talked to your mom first. I should have talked to you. I made a mistake.”
Noah threw his arms around his father’s waist.
Ryan hugged him back.
I watched them.
The tension in my chest loosened a little.
Maybe it wasn’t perfect.
Maybe Buddy would be outside instead of on Noah’s bed where he belonged.
But it was something.
It was a start.
Diane was watching too.
Her face was expressionless.
But her eyes…
Her eyes were cold.
May you like
And I knew.
I knew this wasn’t over.
