Chapter 12 - Dylan Finally Said What He Wanted
Dylan agreed to meet only because Lauren told him she would cooperate with their parents’ attorney if he refused.
They met at George and Evelyn’s house.
Rebecca attended.
Not to perform a dramatic legal reveal.
To prevent the conversation from turning into pressure again.
Dylan looked exhausted.
His company jacket was wrinkled.
The confidence he wore at the cemetery had disappeared.
George began.
“Why our house?”
Dylan laughed bitterly.
“We’ve covered this.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“We covered your debt. I want the part under it.”
Dylan looked at Lauren.
She did not help him.
Finally he said, “Because I couldn’t be the one who lost Dad’s money.”
George frowned.
“What money?”
“The eighteen thousand you gave me to start.”
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“I turned it into a company.”
“You did.”
“I had thirty employees at one point.”
“Twenty-two,” Lauren said quietly.
Dylan glared at her.
Then looked back at George.
“You always introduced me as the kid who built something.”
George’s expression softened despite himself.
Dylan continued.
“Then the contracts went bad. Equipment broke. I borrowed to keep payroll going. Every month I thought the next one would fix it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew what you’d say.”
“What?”
“Shut it down.”
George did not deny it.
Dylan’s eyes reddened.
“You gave me my start. I couldn’t come back fifteen years later and tell you I’d burned through everything you helped me build.”
Evelyn finally understood.
The house was not merely money.
To Dylan, it was one final chance to preserve the story he told about himself.
Lauren had her marriage.
Dylan had his identity.
Their parents were supposed to sacrifice reality so neither child had to admit failure.
Evelyn spoke carefully.
“We would have helped you close a business.”
Dylan looked away.
“You would not have given me six hundred thousand dollars to save it.”
“No.”
“That’s my point.”
“No, Dylan.”
Evelyn’s voice stayed calm.
“That is ours.”
Dylan looked at her.
“You think love means we must agree to any price you name.”
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then Rebecca slid the Cedar Glen emails across the table.
“We also need to address the false statements about your parents’ functioning.”
Dylan looked at Lauren.
Lauren shook her head.
May you like
“No. Don’t do that.”
For the first time, she refused to carry his version of the story.
