They Gave My Wedding to My Brother, Now They Need Me novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Thirty Relatives

The bank confirms his mother legally emptied the joint account; Miles walks into the family brunch, cancels the mortgage and clinic payments in front of everyone, and the relatives start questioning his mother; Trevor calls from the hospital and asks if the party was a gift.

The bank opened at nine on Saturday, and I was the first person through the door.

The branch manager had a gray cardigan and a kind, tired face. I put my phone on her desk with the two alerts open.

"I didn't make this transfer," I said. "My mother did."

She tapped through her screen.

"Account ending 4471 was opened ten years ago as a joint account," she said. "Your mother is listed as a full co-holder. She came in on Thursday with the original agreement and moved the balance."

"It's my money. I put in every dollar."

"I believe you, Mr. Kettering. But legally a joint holder can withdraw all of it, and a bank can't reverse that without a court order."

I sat back.

Ten years ago I was nineteen and Trevor had just been told he would need dialysis. My mother had said, "Put me on the account so I can pay the hospital while you're at school."

I had signed it standing at the counter, still wearing my work apron.

"Can I take her off?" I asked.

"Only if she agrees. But I can lock the account to any new activity. I can also freeze your other accounts to you alone."

"Do both."

She typed for a while.

"I'll flag the transfer as disputed," she said. "That starts a review. It may not help."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry. I see this more than you'd think. It's usually a parent."

I walked out into the cold and drove to my parents' house.

My family's house was a tall brown colonial on a street full of maples.

Eleven cars were parked along the curb.

Through the window I could see the dining room full of people.

I saw aunts, uncles, cousins, and Brooke's mother in a good coat.

It was a brunch for the party that had ended with an ambulance.

Trevor's name was on the cake in the middle of the table.

I had paid for the cake.

My mother met me in the hall. She wore the same pearl earrings she wore to church.

"Miles," she said in a sweet, low voice. "Come in, sit. Trevor is doing much better, thank God."

"I want the sixty-one thousand dollars."

She did not blink. "Not here."

"Here is fine. Everybody's already here."

I walked past her into the dining room.

Thirty people stopped chewing.

"Good morning," I said. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I just came from the bank."

My oldest aunt put down her fork. "Miles, honey, not today."

"Last night I paid eighteen thousand dollars for a party I wasn't invited to."

I turned to my mother.

"This morning I learned you took all my savings on Thursday."

My mother came in behind me. "It was for Trevor's transplant program," she said, loud enough for everyone. "The private clinic wants a deposit. Miles has been selfish with money for years."

"Selfish."

"You live alone. You eat out. You have a nice car."

"I drive a nine-year-old Honda."

Someone coughed.

"I have paid this mortgage for ten years," I said.

I looked at my father at the end of the table.

"Twenty-three hundred dollars a month. Nobody here has ever said thank you."

My father studied his plate.

"I have paid Trevor's clinic for ten years, at four thousand one hundred a month."

I waited a beat and kept going.

"I have paid Hannah's tuition since she was eighteen."

My uncle said, "Son, that's family."

"Then it's family's turn," I said. "The mortgage payment stops today. The clinic payment stops today. I'm cancelling both before I leave this room."

I held up my phone and pressed the button so they could all see it.

Cancelled. Cancelled.

My mother's face lost all its sweetness.

"You are not going to cancel your brother's treatment," she said. "He is dying."

"He has insurance. He has a transplant list. He has a fiancée, a ring and a wedding, which you built with my money and gave to him without asking me."

"We were going to tell you."

"When?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

Brooke's mother pushed back her chair and stared at my mother with her lips pressed tight.

My oldest aunt said, quietly, "Did you really not ask him?"

I had never heard anyone question my mother in that room.

"It's complicated," my mother said.

"You told us he agreed," said my cousin from the end of the table.

The whole room turned toward her.

I had not planned for that. I had expected shouting. I had not expected the room itself to start asking questions.

My mother lifted her chin. "I did what was best for this family. Someone had to."

"You did what was best for Trevor," I said. "Hannah's tuition I'll keep paying, because she's my sister and she did nothing. Everything else is done."

I turned to leave.

My phone rang in my hand. The screen said Hospital Room 412.

I stepped into the hallway and answered.

"Miles?" It was Trevor, his voice thin and rough. "Mom told me you gave me the engagement party. As a gift. She said you wanted me to have it."

I looked at the open doorway, at my mother standing very still among the plates.

"Did you?" he asked.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend