"No."
"Where are you going?"
"Mom's."
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
His eyes filled. That almost got me.
Almost.
Then he said, "You're ending our marriage over one stupid prank?"
Grandpa answered before I could.
"No. She's deciding whether to remain married to a man who enjoyed humiliating her."
Ryan turned toward him. "I said I was sorry."
Grandpa shrugged. "I've heard better."
Ryan looked at me. "What about the money?"
Even then.
"What about it?"
"We can't afford the house without it."
"I don't think we're buying a house together."
His face changed.
"You mean that?"
"Yes."
Mom took my hand.
We left.
I cried before we'd reached the end of the driveway.
Ugly, gasping, crying.
Mom pulled over.
Grandpa's car stopped behind us.
He climbed out slowly and tapped on my window.
I opened the door.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
I shook my head.
"I ruined everything."
His expression sharpened. "No."
"I married him."
"You married the person you believed he was."
"I should've known."
"Known what?"
I couldn't answer.
Grandpa said, "People love pretending every betrayal came with a warning label. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn't. The person who chose it still chose it."
I cried harder.
Then I asked, "Did you really cancel the money?"
