His Budget Had a Favorite

By the time Henry came back from the balcony, the living room was dead quiet.

I took Ashley to her room. She kept her head down, wiping her tears.

Then footsteps came down the hall.

Henry dropped onto the couch like nothing had happened.

"What? You think it's not enough?"

I froze in the doorway.

My heart sank.

He could drop $30,000 on someone else.

But his own daughter got $250.

And he seriously had to ask if that was too little?

I opened the door and walked straight up to him.

"Henry." I met his eyes. "Ashley gets $250 a month. So who gets the $30,000?"

His fingers went still.

Just for a second.

But I caught it.

Instead of answering, he frowned. "Were you listening to my call?"

I almost laughed.

So that was the problem.

Not that he was spending our family's money on someone else.

That I'd heard him.

I stared at him. "So it's true?"

Henry's face darkened. "Don't make this into some huge thing. Anna raised Brandon alone all these years. Now he has a chance to go abroad. What's wrong with helping them?"

"Helping?" I echoed. "You can hand them $30,000, but $250 for your own daughter is somehow enough?"

His patience snapped. "I earned that money. How I spend it is my business."

I just stood there, stunned.

For years, we'd split the mortgage and helped support both our parents.

Every paycheck I earned went straight into our joint account because Henry said families should pool their money and plan together.

Now suddenly, it was his money?

My voice tightened. "Then what about everything I've put in all these years?"

Henry frowned. "Here we go again. Ashley's going to college, not on vacation. Why isn't $250 enough? I had even less when I was her age."

My chest tightened. "She couldn't even bring herself to ask for a used laptop."

"A laptop?" Henry looked like I'd just told a joke. "They have computer labs. A library. She's there to study, not keep up with everyone else."

And suddenly, I remembered the day Ashley was born.

He'd held her so carefully, scared he might squeeze too hard.

Tears in his eyes, he'd promised his little princess could have anything she wanted.

Back then, I really thought he'd always be that dad.

Now he was standing here telling her to just make do.

The bedroom door cracked open.

Ashley stood there, eyes red. "Mom, I don't need a laptop."

She twisted the hem of her shirt, her voice getting smaller.

"The library has computers. I can use those. And $250 is enough. I'll just spend less."

Henry jumped in. "See? Even Ashley gets it. You're the one always spoiling her."

Ashley lowered her head and went quiet.

That only made my heart hurt worse.

I walked over, pulled her into my arms, and stroked her hair. "Go back to your room."

She buried her face against me, trembling. "Mom, this is my fault. You guys are fighting because of me."

I held her tighter.

It took me a second to answer.

"You did nothing wrong.

"Some people just don't appreciate what they have."

After Ashley fell asleep, I grabbed my phone and checked our accounts.

The more I scrolled, the colder I got.

$5,000.

$8,000.

$12,000.

Then I went back further.

Another $36,000.

The memo was two words.

Down payment.

I swallowed my anger and opened my contacts.

Then I found Paige Miller in my contacts—my college friend and a lawyer.