The Rolex & The Ruin: My Family's Greed

ght in my stomach. I looked from Gabrielle

finally ma

were slow. "You think you can just show up with your fancy car and

t my mothe

my eyes. "Gabrielle is just...

ve misunderstanding, and a public argument wasn't the way

"I' m tired from the drive. I' m ju

side, but my mother

. that' s Caleb and Ga

"What? The maste

.. she needs the bigger space. And the en-suite bath

room. I had picked out the furniture, the paint, the view of the oak

o sleep?" I asked, my

ovely," my mother said with that same forced cheer.

g I had imagined. The simple, honest life I c

lle had gone to bed in my room, I corner

eping my voice low. "Why does Gabrielle thin

ly looked shifty. He stared at his worn-out boo

e to tell her,"

with tears. It was a performance I' d se

business failed... we had nothing. Gabrielle' s family... they' re well-off,

Caleb' s name. A gift from his successful sister. It was the only way the

that I almost laughed. They had used my gift, my gen

believe that?" I aske

is trump card. "I did it for family. Just like I did for you. Remember? After your father

lliant but ill-fated engineer, had died in a workplace accident when I was ten. He had left a trust fund specifica

g, manipulative stranger, and I s

e flat and devoid of emotion. "My father'

he fake tears dr

for argument. "You will tell Gabrielle and her family the tr

. "Annabel! Whe

ne on Elm Street. It' s smaller, but it' s yours, rent-free. I' ll even pay t

and resentment. The illusion of our happy family h