Chapter 2

I pulled my phone out and looked at the screen. A wave of fury and disbelief washed over me.

"Ms. Wallace, your reservation at Everglade Manor has been successfully canceled. The payment will be refunded to your original account within one business day. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us anytime. Everglade Manor wishes you all the best."

Staring at the cold cancellation notice on my screen felt like being punched in the gut. A surge of rage made my head spin and my ears ring.

I forced myself to read the message twice before I could accept the truth. Ryan and Emily had been too busy canceling my nursing home reservation this morning to even drop off their own child at school.

I immediately called Ryan. The phone rang and rang, but no one answered.

I sent him a text instead. After a long wait, he finally replied with a few cold words. "We'll talk at home."

I abandoned any thought of grocery shopping and hurried back to the house. The moment I pushed open the door, the laughter and conversation in the living room stopped dead.

Ryan and Emily sat at the dining table eating breakfast. When they saw my face, a flicker of discomfort crossed Ryan's expression. He set down his fork almost reflexively.

Emily barely glanced up at me, a smug smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. "Oh, you already dropped Mason off? Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

Ryan greeted me as he normally would, though his voice carried an undercurrent of guilt.

I sat down without a word. My voice trembled despite my efforts to keep it steady. "Which one of you canceled my nursing home reservation? Why?"

Ryan's eyes darted away, unable to meet mine. He stammered, "M-Mom, it's not like we don't have room here. Why waste all that money?

"Everglade Manor is nice and all, but it's way too expensive. Mason starts elementary school next year. We'll have expenses everywhere."

I cut him off, barely containing my anger. "I was paying for it myself. You had no right to cancel it."

Emily finally lost her patience. She set down her fork and turned to me with a mocking smile. "Paying for it yourself?

"Mom, you were just a regular office worker before you retired. Your pension is what, three thousand a month at most?

"So where did the rest come from? It had to be either what Ryan gave you over the years or what Dad left behind.

"And shouldn't Dad's money go to his son? At the end of the day, that money belongs to this family!

"Besides, what kind of old person lives in such an expensive place anyway?"

My hands shook with rage. Hurt and fury welled up inside me until I couldn't hold back. My voice rose.

"Using Ryan's money? When you bought this house, didn't I pay back every cent he'd sent me over the years?"

Ryan looked uncomfortable. When I brought up the house, impatience crept into his tone. "That's enough, Mom! Emily has a point. Now that Dad's gone, shouldn't that money you and Dad saved go to me? I mean, that's just how it works.

"Everything costs money here. I've got car payments, and Mason needs things. Can't you think about us for once?"

When I stayed silent, the irritation on his face deepened.

"Other parents bend over backwards to help their kids. But you just want to go off and pamper yourself. It's honestly embarrassing!"

When our eyes met, he looked away from the disbelief in mine, though his expression remained defensive. I stared at Ryan, the son I'd raised with everything I had. I barely recognized him now.

My chest tightened until I could hardly breathe, and the living room sank into heavy silence. When Emily finally spoke again, her voice had taken on an almost reasonable tone.

"Look, Mom, if you really want to live in a nursing home instead of staying here with us, we respect that."