A cold pressure tightened in my chest. “What truth?”
Ethan exhaled. “Sweetheart, Mom and I agreed the seven million will go toward Ryan’s debts.”
For a moment, I genuinely thought I had heard him wrong.
“Ryan’s debts?” I repeated.
His younger brother Ryan had spent years sinking under bad decisions—failed businesses, gambling, maxed-out credit cards, tax issues. Every holiday turned into another conversation about how he was “trying to turn things around.” Apparently, turning things around meant waiting for someone else to rescue him.
Linda stepped closer. “He’s family. Your mother would have wanted that money to help family.”
I let out a short, incredulous laugh. “My mother barely knew Ryan.”
Ethan’s face hardened. “This isn’t the time to be selfish.”
Selfish.
