How convenient.
The past was precisely what they wanted me to forget.
I picked up a photograph of Ethan sitting on the grass with Lily and Noah.
“This was taken three weeks before the accident.”
Mom glanced at it.
“They were beautiful children.”
“They were your grandchildren.”
She looked away.
Dad shifted in his chair.
“Life has to move forward, Claire.”
“Not for them.”
His expression tightened.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Then he finally revealed why they had come.
“We heard about your
settlement, and we wanted to make sure you’re managing that kind of money responsibly.”
There it was.
The first honest sentence of the evening.
Melissa immediately leaned forward.
“I’ve been planning a business venture,” she announced. “I just need some financial support to get started.”
I stared at her.
“What does your business have to do with my settlement?”
She smiled.
“Well, you’re in a position to help now.”
Mom quickly added that she and Dad needed money for renovations and other expenses.
Melissa also mentioned her approaching wedding.
Not one of them asked whether I’d been sleeping.
Or whether grief counseling was helping.
Or how it felt to wake up every morning in a house without my children.
They’d come to discuss money.
“How much?” I asked.
Melissa blinked.
“What?”
“How much are you asking for?”
She hesitated.
“About two hundred thousand dollars.”
Dad added that three hundred thousand
would help him and Mom handle their financial situation.
I looked between them.
“Half a million dollars?”
Mom shrugged.
“Claire, you have eighteen million.”
I felt sick.
She spoke as though I’d won the lottery.
As though my money hadn’t come from a collision that killed my entire family.
I looked directly at Dad.
“Would you be sitting here if I hadn’t received that settlement?”
He frowned.
“That’s unfair.”
“Then answer.”
Nobody did.
Eventually, Mom began making excuses about the funeral.
Melissa’s birthday had already been arranged.
Guests had confirmed.
Canceling would have been complicated.
I listened in disbelief.
