Chapter 4 - Get Your Son and Never Come Back
I didn't cancel Christmas.
I canceled the financial arrangements that had turned me into my family's unpaid support system.
First, I opened my banking application.
The recurring mortgage transfer was scheduled for renewal.
I disabled the authorization for future payments.
For three years, eighteen hundred and fifty dollars had left my account every month to cover a mortgage that wasn't mine.
I had originally agreed to help for six months after my father experienced a difficult financial period.
Six months became twelve.
Twelve became twenty-four.
Then three years passed, and nobody ever mentioned when the arrangement might end.
My mother occasionally thanked me.
Usually when she needed something additional.
Otherwise, she referred to those payments as my responsibility.
Next, I opened the corporate card administration portal.
Titan's supplementary spending privileges had been tied to a credit facility I personally guaranteed.
I had already raised concerns about unauthorized personal charges.
That evening, I finally exercised my contractual right to suspend further spending on the account while those charges were reviewed.
A confirmation appeared.
SUPPLEMENTARY CARD ACCESS SUSPENDED.
Then I opened the vehicle financing account.
Silas had repeatedly ignored requests to regularize his guarantee arrangements and outstanding obligations.
I submitted the formal withdrawal and default-related instructions available under the agreement.
The lender's connected vehicle system would handle any authorized security restrictions according to its existing notices.
I watched the confirmation appear.
Three actions.
Less than two minutes.
My mother had gone unusually quiet.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with."
Silas barked out a laugh.
"Oh, come on. He's doing his little money-control routine."
I slid the phone into my pocket.
"Enjoy the rest of your evening."
But Silas wasn't finished.
"You think freezing some stupid credit card matters to me?"
I stopped near the doorway.
He stepped around the table.
"Let me explain something, big brother."
I knew that tone.
It was the same one he'd used at sixteen, after I'd taken responsibility for a damaged car he'd borrowed without permission.
The same one he'd used at twenty-four when he needed me to cover an apartment deposit he couldn't afford.
The same one he'd used at thirty when he convinced me that guaranteeing his Porsche would improve his credibility with potential investors.
"You've spent your whole life working for somebody else," he continued.
"Have I?"
"While I'm building something real."
"Congratulations."
"Titan is closing a two-point-five-million-dollar seed round next week."
He straightened his blazer.
"With Apex Ventures."
My mother's confidence visibly returned.
"That's right. Tell him, Silas."
"When the money clears, I'll buy Mom and Dad a new house in cash. Maybe somewhere on the waterfront."
My father looked interested.
Silas smiled.
"And I'll replace the Porsche with a Ferrari."
I glanced toward Felix.
He had stopped crying, but his face was still damp.
His little fingers were gripping the sleeve of my suit.
He was exhausted.
I wanted him away from that house.
But something my brother had said caught my attention.
"Apex Ventures?"
Silas grinned.
"Yes. Apex Ventures."
"Interesting."
"A top-tier firm. Private investment. Venture capital. You know, the kind of people you probably read about in business magazines."
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because I suddenly understood how completely my family had misunderstood my life.
They knew I worked in finance.
They knew I traveled for meetings.
They knew I wore suits, took business calls at unusual hours, and occasionally disappeared for investor conferences.
But they had never asked what I actually did.
When Apex launched five years earlier, I'd mentioned it during a family dinner.
My mother had interrupted me to ask whether I could help pay for Silas's apartment.
At our first profitable year, I'd tried sharing the news.
My father asked whether I could refinance his mortgage.
When a business publication interviewed Julian and me, I sent my parents the article.
My mother responded with a thumbs-up emoji.
Then she asked whether I could cover her dental work.
Eventually, I stopped telling them anything.
My professional success had become something private.
Not because I was ashamed.
Because I wanted at least one part of my life that my family couldn't turn into a bill.
Silas crossed his arms.
"What? Nothing clever to say?"
I looked directly at him.
"Just one suggestion."
He smirked.
"Let's hear it."
"Before your Monday pitch, check the managing partner directory on Apex's website."
His smile faltered.
"What?"
"You might recognize someone."
I didn't elaborate.
My mother stepped toward us.
"Gideon, stop being ridiculous."
I turned my attention back to Felix.
"Ready, buddy?"
He nodded.
I zipped his winter coat around the clean covering I'd placed over his legs and lifted him carefully into my arms.
Behind me, Silas muttered something about pathetic corporate managers.
I didn't respond.
The heavy mahogany door shut with a quiet click.
Outside, snow drifted across the lawn beneath the Christmas lights.
Felix pressed his face against my neck.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we in trouble?"
I held him a little closer.
"No, buddy."
"Is Grandma mad at me?"
I looked back at the enormous house.
The expensive decorations.
The perfect wreath.
The windows glowing with manufactured warmth.
"No, Felix. Grandma made a very bad decision. And adults are responsible for their own decisions."
He considered that.
Then whispered something that almost broke me.
"Can we still have Christmas tomorrow?"
I kissed the top of his head.
"Of course we can."
I carried him to my SUV and secured him carefully in his seat.
Then I got behind the wheel and dialed a number I'd known for nearly fifteen years.
Julian Sterling answered on the second ring.
"Merry Christmas, Gideon!"
I looked through the windshield at my parents' house.
"Merry Christmas, Julian."
A pause.
"Everything okay?"
"No."
My voice sounded unfamiliar even to me.
"I need an immediate conflict and compliance review on Titan Tech."
May you like
Julian stopped speaking.
And for the first time that night, I heard genuine concern in another adult's voice.
