Chapter 1 - The Piggy BankEthan had counted the money twice that morning.
Eight hundred forty-three dollars.
Birthday money.
Allowance.
Cash from helping his mother organize the garage.
Twenty dollars his grandfather had slipped into his hand at Christmas.
Nine-year-old Ethan had saved almost every dollar for eleven months.
He wanted a computer.
Not the most expensive one.
Just one powerful enough to build the small games he kept sketching in notebooks.
He was sitting on the sofa in the mansion’s enormous living room when the front door opened.
His father stumbled inside.
Nolan smelled like alcohol before he reached the room.
His shirt was wrinkled.
His eyes were heavy.
He stopped when he saw the ceramic piggy bank in Ethan’s hands.
“What’s that?”
Ethan immediately pulled it closer.
“My savings.”
Nolan stared.
“How much?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Dad?”
Nolan walked toward him.
Ethan stood.
Something about the way his father moved frightened him.
“Let me see it.”
“No.”
Nolan’s face hardened.
“I said let me see it.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“Dad, don’t. That’s my money. I’ve been saving it.”
Nolan grabbed the piggy bank.
Ethan held on.
“Dad!”
“Let go.”
“No!”
Nolan ripped it away.
Then, without hesitation, he threw it onto the stone floor.
The ceramic bank shattered.
Ethan screamed.
Bills scattered among white fragments.
“No!”
He dropped to his knees.
His hands shook as he reached for the money.
“That’s my money! I saved it for a whole year!”
Nolan crouched.
For one desperate second Ethan thought his father was helping.
Then Nolan started picking up the cash.
Ethan stared.
“Stop!”
Nolan shoved several bills into his pocket.
“Your money is my money.”
Ethan grabbed his wrist.
“No!”
Nolan pulled away.
“I raised you. Where do you think that money came from?”
Ethan burst into tears.
“I earned some of it!”
“Ethan, enough.”
“Give it back!”
Nolan stood.
Ethan remained on the floor among the broken ceramic.
Then a woman’s voice exploded behind them.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Nolan turned.
Brooke stood in the hallway.
Her handbag had slipped from her shoulder.
She saw Ethan crying.
The shattered piggy bank.
The money in Nolan’s hand.
Her face changed.
“Nolan.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t start.”
Brooke crossed the room.
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the mansion.
“You promised me you’d quit drinking and stay off fentanyl!”
Nolan froze.
“You made that promise over and over again!”
His shock became rage.
He slapped her back.
Ethan screamed.
“Mom!”
Brooke’s head turned from the impact.
She stayed completely still.
Nolan pointed toward her.
“I run this house.”
His breathing was heavy.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
Brooke slowly turned her face toward him.
Something inside her changed.
The fury disappeared.
So did the fear.
She became frighteningly calm.
“Fine.”
She walked toward her handbag.
Nolan frowned.
“What are you doing?”
Brooke reached inside.
She removed a thick envelope.
Then placed a prepared stack of documents on the coffee table.
“Then sign them.”
Nolan stared.
At the top:
PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
Divorce papers.
His face emptied.
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
Ethan stopped crying for half a second.
Brooke looked at her son.
Then at the money clenched in Nolan’s fist.
“I was going to give you one final chance.”
Nolan looked up.
“One final chance for what?”
“To choose this family.”
Brooke’s voice remained steady.
“You just chose.”
Nolan laughed nervously.
“You can’t divorce me because I lost my temper.”
“This isn’t about today.”
Brooke opened the folder.
Receipts.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
A printed record from a rehabilitation center Nolan had abandoned after four days.
Ethan watched without understanding.
Nolan did.
His color faded.
Brooke continued.
“I’ve documented six months.”
“You’ve been spying on me?”
“I’ve been protecting Ethan.”
Nolan’s eyes moved toward the documents.
Then toward Brooke.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“You think you can throw me out of my own house?”
Brooke stared at him.
“This house isn’t yours.”
Silence.
Nolan’s expression changed.
Ethan looked from one parent to the other.
“What do you mean?”
Brooke never took her eyes off Nolan.
“My father bought this property through a trust before we married.”
Nolan’s jaw tightened.
Brooke continued.
“And after what happened last month, I changed the trust access.”
Nolan stopped breathing.
“What happened last month?”
Brooke’s expression became colder.
“The twenty-eight thousand dollars you took from our emergency account.”
Ethan looked at his father.
Nolan said nothing.
Brooke leaned closer.
May you like
“I know about that too.”
And judging by the fear suddenly spreading across Nolan’s face, twenty-eight thousand dollars was not the number he was afraid she had discovered.
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