Chapter 4

“Logan, you can’t blame your brother! He can change; I know he can! If you’d just come up with six hundred thousand dollars, and we’d added the two hundred thousand we scraped together by selling everything we owned, your brother would’ve been able to pay off his debt in full. How could he possibly have kept gambling after that?

“It’s all your fault for giving him only a hundred and fifty thousand! He wanted to pay off everything at once, so he gambled again to try to win the rest—and lost it all!

“Your brother really knows he was wrong. He’s changed, I swear! Please, just help him one more time.

“If you won’t help us, we’ll stay right here! We’re not leaving!”

Mom wailed as she pulled bedding out of a large woven sack and spread it across the floor, blocking the entrance to the office building.

When security guards approached to remove her, she pulled out a knife and held it against her throat, threatening to kill herself right there if I refused to give her the money.

I felt as though my head were about to explode. My whole body trembled uncontrollably.

“Dylan will never change!

“And I’ve already told you—I gave you every last cent I had! If you keep coming after me for money, you’re forcing me to cut ties with you for good—”

Before I could finish, Dad raised his hand to slap me.

This time, I blocked him and clamped my hand around his wrist.

The proud, stubborn, and violent man I’d always known as my father was now throwing a tantrum just like Mom.

He pointed at me and cursed me as an ungrateful son. He accused me of forgetting everything they’d done for me and not caring whether they lived or died.

My manager, Daniel Foster, and the company owner both showed up. Their faces darkened as they ordered me to resolve the situation immediately or pack my things and get out.

The female coworker I’d been growing close to had been watching from a distance. When I looked toward her, she hurried off to the restroom as though I were carrying some contagious disease.

I laughed.

It was a bitter, hollow laugh.

“Mom, Dad, I spent nearly ten years working myself to the bone to earn this job. If you destroy it, you’ll destroy my life, too.”

There wasn’t a trace of pity in my parents’ eyes. They looked only excited, as if they were on the verge of getting exactly what they wanted.

“If you want to keep your job, help your brother first!

“Go borrow eight hundred thousand dollars! You could pay it all back in three or four years. But if your brother can’t repay his debt, he might not even live another three or four years!

“Transfer the money to us, and we’ll leave right now. We’ll never bother you again.

“Otherwise, we’ll keep dragging this out until you get fired…”

I had no money left.

Not a single cent.

I would rather lose my job, throw away the decades I’d spent struggling to build a life, and start over from scratch than sacrifice another ounce of effort for this family.

Besides, the moment they showed up at my workplace and started threatening me for money again, they stopped being my parents.

They were just Thomas Whitaker and Patricia Whitaker—two middle-aged strangers who no longer had anything to do with me.

“There’s no need to drag this out. I’ll resign right now.”

I took a deep breath. Feeling as though a weight had finally lifted from my shoulders, I stepped over their bedding and walked past them with a surprisingly light stride.

Patricia’s voice was hoarse from crying.

“Logan, what do you mean by that? Your brother has changed! He really has!”

Thomas flew into a rage and cursed me at the top of his lungs.

“You heartless bastard! Let him go! Even without him, the rest of us can grit our teeth and get through this! Just wait until everyone has abandoned you and you’re left all alone. Let’s see if you regret it then!”

In the end, Thomas and Patricia regretted their choices.

After I resigned and cut ties with them, they begged everyone they could think of for help. Then they turned to online lenders and loan sharks until they finally managed to borrow $800,000 for Dylan.

But Dylan took the money and ran.

Once again, he disappeared without a trace.

Thomas’s hair turned white overnight. He suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized, urgently needing surgery.

Patricia called me from an unfamiliar number.

“Logan, please come home!

“You’re the only one who can save your father…”