Chapter 4

"It's fine," I said, my voice tight. "I forgot I have another place. The condo I bought downtown."

I had purchased it years ago as an investment, a small, two-bedroom unit in a decent building. I' d let them manage it, thinking it would give them a little extra income stream to handle.

A guilty look flashed across my mother' s face. "Oh. That."

"What about it?" I pressed.

She looked at Kevin, who cleared his throat. "Well, we've been renting it out. On Airbnb. It's been pretty steady."

A flicker of hope. Maybe they weren't completely useless. "Great. So you've been collecting the rental income for me?"

Kevin shifted in his chair. "That money went to your parents' living expenses."

I stared at him. "Living expenses? I send them five thousand dollars a month. Every month. For twenty years. What living expenses could possibly eat up a six-figure annual salary plus rental income?"

The table went silent. Beth glared at me. "How dare you? After everything they've done for you!"

"Done for me?" My voice rose, the anger finally breaking through. "I paid for this house! I paid for your car, Beth! I paid for Cody's private school, his braces, his vacations! What have any of you ever done for me?"

"You ungrateful spinster!" my father roared, his face turning purple. He stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "We raised you! This is my house! My name is on the deed!"

He was right about that. I had naively put the house in his name to make him feel like the man of the house. A mistake I was now beginning to understand in its full, horrifying scope.

Before I could react, his hand flew across the table and slapped me hard across the face.

The sting was sharp, but the shock was worse.

"Get out," he hissed, his voice trembling with rage. "Get out of my house."