Chapter 4

I stared at the two of them working in perfect harmony, and suddenly felt exhausted and ridiculous.

There was no point in arguing anymore. I had nothing left to say. They'd already decided that my money was theirs, my needs were inconvenient, and my choices were wasteful.

I turned away in silence and walked back to the bedroom, my temporary refuge. Their voices continued in muffled conversation outside my door for a long time before finally stopping.

I pulled my phone out and messaged a neighbor back home, asking her to help me get the tenant's phone number. If I had no place here and they wouldn't let me move into a nursing home, then I'd just go back home myself.

That afternoon, when I picked up Mason from school and brought him home, Ryan and Emily were already there. Food containers covered the dining table.

When they saw me, Ryan jumped up and urged me to eat, saying he'd specially ordered takeout from an upscale restaurant.

I sat down, my attitude cool and distant. An awkward tension hung in the air throughout dinner.

I went back to my room afterward and packed my suitcase, planning to buy a ticket home the next day.

Early the next morning, I was still half asleep when I heard noises coming from the living room. The commotion went on for half an hour before everything went quiet.

At 7:30 am, I got up and opened my door. The apartment was empty.

I grabbed my suitcase and was about to leave when my neighbor called.

"Helen, I've been on a seniors' tour with my group, so I wasn't home. My son only went to check your house last night. He said there's no tenant at all, but the house is listed with a real estate agency!

"What's going on? Did you move to the big city with your son to enjoy the good life? Are you really planning to sell the house?"

A ringing filled my ears. Whatever else she said, I couldn't hear it. Cold crept up from the soles of my feet while fury burned in my chest.

I hung up and called Ryan with shaking hands. This time he answered quickly, though the background noise was chaotic.

Before I could speak, he said loudly, "Mom, I have to go on a last-minute business trip. I don't have time to take you to the nursing home. Just grab a cab at the complex entrance.

"Okay, I have to go. I'm about to board."

Then he hung up. I stared at the disconnected call for a moment, then noticed the notification badge on my screen. After a moment, something compelled me to open his social media feed.

The first thing I saw was a post Emily had made three minutes ago. The location tag showed the airport. A grid of nine photos showed the three of them, along with Emily's parents, all smiling brightly.

My breath caught. I dropped my bag and grabbed my old wallet. The bank card was gone.

In that moment, after the crushing disappointment and rage, I felt strangely calm.

So that was what this was really about. They'd said they wanted me to come enjoy life with them, but really they wanted to sell my house back home. And they'd lied about renting it out.

I grabbed my suitcase and went downstairs to find a real estate agent. I told them I wanted to sell a property as quickly as possible.

When Ryan got married, my husband, Peter Pratt, and I had emptied our savings to buy them their current apartment. We'd thought it would be theirs eventually anyway, so we hadn't bothered transferring the deed. Now that oversight worked in my favor.

Then I boarded a train back home. As the scenery shifted outside the window, I felt the wind on my face and suddenly realized tears were streaming down my cheeks.

My tears weren't for the upscale nursing home they'd canceled or the money they'd stolen, but for the calculating betrayal itself and how my son had become someone I no longer recognized.

If Ryan only saw me as something to exploit, then he didn't deserve the apartment Peter and I had bought with our life savings anymore. I would take back the home we'd given them to build their lives in.