She hung up.
I stared at the phone.
And realized, strangely, that I wasn’t devastated.
Maybe because the worst thing had already happened.
I had finally understood them clearly.
CHAPTER 6 — MY FATHER CAME ALONE
A week later, Dad appeared at my building.
Alone.
Elena called upstairs.
“Your father is here.”
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
I nearly told her to send him away.
Instead I said, “Let him up.”
When he entered, he looked older.
Not dramatically.
Just tired.
I offered coffee.
He nodded.
We sat at the kitchen island.
For several minutes, he said nothing.
Finally:
“Your mother is furious with you.”
“I know.”
“Chloe is furious with everyone.”
“I know.”
“Flynn accepted the job.”
“Good.”
Dad stared into his coffee.
Then said, “I was wrong.”
I looked at him.
He still didn’t look up.
“I shouldn’t have assumed.”
That might have been the first apology I had ever heard from my father that didn’t contain the word but.
I waited.
He continued.
“When your mother first mentioned the apartment, I thought it was temporary.”
“How temporary?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
He nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then he looked around the room.
At the kitchen.
The shelves.
The photographs.
“This is a nice place.”
“You’ve been here before.”
“I know.”
“But?”
He rubbed one hand over his jaw.
“I don’t think I ever thought about what it cost you to get here.”
I didn’t answer.
“You always made things look easy.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I’m starting to understand that.”
I leaned back.
“Why now?”
He sighed.
“Because I went through some of Chloe’s finances.”
That sounded ominous.
“She let you?”
“Not willingly.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Flynn asked for help.”
“What did you find?”
“Most of the debt isn’t his businesses.”
My stomach tightened.
“What is it?”
Dad’s expression turned grim.
“Lifestyle.”
He listed it.
Luxury handbags.
Two expensive vacations.
Furniture purchases.
Private preschool upgrades.
Car payments.
Shopping.
Restaurants.
A personal loan Chloe had taken without telling Flynn.
“Your mother and I were covering their basic expenses,” Dad said. “I thought we were helping them through bad business decisions.”
“But?”
“We were making it possible for them not to change.”
Exactly.
I said nothing.
Dad continued.
“I kept telling myself Chloe had children and needed support.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“That wasn’t fair.”
“No.”
Another silence.
Then he asked, “Do you hate us?”
The question caught me off guard.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m angry.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I thought about it.
“I don’t hate you.”
He nodded slowly.
“I’m not sure your mother knows the difference.”
“Between anger and hate?”
“Between boundaries and rejection.”
That sounded almost insightful.
“Maybe she’ll learn.”
Dad smiled faintly.
“Maybe.”
He stood to leave.
At the door, he stopped.
“Chloe still has nowhere to go after the lease ends.”
I waited.
He added quickly, “I’m not asking you.”
That mattered.
“What are they going to do?”
“Flynn found a two-bedroom apartment farther out.”
“Can they afford it?”
“With his new salary and some changes.”
“Then that sounds like their answer.”
Dad nodded.
“Yes.”
He left.
I closed the door.
Then stood there for several seconds.
Nothing had been magically fixed.
But for the first time since Christmas, someone in my family had actually listened.
CHAPTER 7 — CHLOE CAME WITHOUT OUR PARENTS
Chloe didn’t speak to me for nearly a month.
Then one rainy Thursday evening, someone knocked on my door.
I checked the camera.
Chloe.
Alone.
I opened it.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Jeans.
An old coat I hadn’t seen in years.
For once, she did not look like the version of herself she usually presented to the world.
“Can I come in?”
I stepped aside.
She entered slowly.
Her eyes moved around the apartment.
The place she had nearly treated as hers.
“I forgot how nice it is.”
I remained standing.
“What do you need?”
She winced.
“You don’t have to sound like a banker.”
“I am a financial analyst.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
It disappeared quickly.
“I came to apologize.”
I said nothing.
She walked toward the window.
“For real.”
“Okay.”
“I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
“No.”
“I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“No.”
“I shouldn’t have let Mom convince me.”
I raised a hand.
“Stop there.”
She turned.
“Mom didn’t hire movers.”
Her jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“She didn’t cancel your lease.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t pack your boxes.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t make her responsible for your choices.”
Chloe looked away.
“I hate when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make everything sound so simple.”
“It is simple.”
“No, Jessi. It isn’t.”
Her eyes filled.
“You’ve always been better at everything.”
I almost interrupted.
She continued.
“You got good grades. You got internships. You got the corporate job. You saved. You planned.”
“None of that was accidental.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“That’s what makes it worse.”
I frowned.
She sat on the sofa.
“I kept telling myself you were lucky.”
I stayed quiet.
“Because if you were lucky, then I wasn’t responsible for where I ended up.”
That was the most honest thing Chloe had ever said to me.
She wiped one tear quickly.
“I’d look at your apartment and think, of course Jessi has this. Jessi always gets everything right.”
“You think I never failed?”
“You never failed like me.”
“I just failed privately.”
She looked at me.
I sat opposite her.
“I applied for three promotions before I got one.”
She blinked.
“You never told me.”
“Why would I?”
“I thought you got promoted immediately.”
“No.”
“I thought your company paid for your MBA.”
“They reimbursed half.”
“I thought Dad helped with your down payment.”
I laughed softly.
“No.”
Her face changed.
“He told me he did.”
My smile disappeared.
“What?”
“When we were talking about the apartment, Dad said they helped you too.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I assumed money.”
I sat back.
Dad had helped me.
By driving a rental truck when I moved.
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