My grandfather straightened slowly, his face darkening with a kind of anger I had never seen before. “Don’t insult my intelligence. Claire has received nothing. Not a single dollar. And now I believe I know exactly why.”
The room went completely still. Even my baby fell quiet.
Then Grandpa spoke again—his words cutting straight through me.
“Do you really think I don’t know what you’ve been doing?”
The pressure in the room became suffocating. Mark’s grip tightened on the shopping bags, while Vivian’s eyes flicked toward the doorway, as if she were weighing the chance of escape.
Grandpa took one deliberate step toward them. “For three years,” he said evenly, “I’ve sent Claire money so she could build a secure future. A future you both swore you would protect. And instead—” His gaze dropped to the luxury bags. “—you built one for yourselves.”
Vivian forced a nervous smile. “Edward, this has to be some sort of banking error. Surely—”
“Enough,” Grandpa snapped. “The account records come directly to me. Every transfer went into a bank account under Mark’s name. One Claire was never allowed to access.”
My stomach churned. I turned slowly to Mark. “Is it true? Did you hide that money from me?”
His jaw locked as he avoided my eyes. “Claire, listen… things were tight. We had expenses—”
“Tight?” I let out a breathless, broken laugh. “I worked two jobs while pregnant. You made me feel guilty for buying anything that wasn’t discounted. And all this time—” My voice trembled. “—you were sitting on a quarter of a million dollars every month?”
