tile and nearly struck her cup. “You’re emotional. You’re overwhelmed. You heard something shocking and now you think it means you should play business owner.”
“Play?”
Tessa sighed. “You know what he means.”
“I do,” Evelyn said. “That is the problem.”
Marcus rubbed both hands over his face. “Fine. Let’s speak plainly. Tessa and I will manage the company. You’ll remain the legal owner for now, so nobody can accuse us of anything. We’ll set up a monthly allowance for you.”
The word landed like a slap.
Allowance.
Evelyn had gone to bed hungry twice in the first year of marriage so Daniel could pay the shop’s rent. She had washed uniforms in their bathtub when the machine broke and there was no money for repair. She had packed Marcus’s lunches, Daniel’s lunches, and sometimes lunches for employees who forgot theirs. She had turned herself into the quiet machinery behind everyone else’s comfort.
Now her son wanted to give her an allowance from the life she helped build.
“No,” she said.
Marcus stared, almost amused. “No?”
“No.”
Tessa’s softness vanished. “Evelyn, don’t be stubborn.”
“I am not being stubborn. I am answering.”
Marcus stepped closer. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Then I will hire people who do.”
“With what money?”
“The company’s money, I suppose.”
That was when his expression changed. Not anger exactly. Something colder. He looked toward Tessa, and she looked back at him, and Evelyn felt a small pulse of warning.
Marcus lowered his voice. “This house was supposed to be mine.”
Evelyn set her cup down carefully. “Your father and I never told you that.”
“He told me plenty.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.” Marcus jabbed a finger toward the floor. “He said I would take care of the family home.”
“Taking care of a home is not the same as owning it.”
Tessa crossed her arms. “We’ve lived here for nine years.”
“Without paying rent,” Evelyn said before she could stop herself.
The kitchen went silent.
Marcus’s mouth tightened. “Is that what this is really about?”
“It is about you telling me to accept an allowance.”
“It is about you losing your mind after Dad died.”
Evelyn flinched.
He saw it and pressed harder.
“You can’t run those shops. You can’t maintain this house alone. You can’t even drive at night anymore. Be realistic.”
“I drove your father to every appointment after his stroke.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
He had no answer, so he found cruelty instead.
“Because nobody was trusting you with millions of dollars.”
Tessa placed a hand on his arm, not to stop him, Evelyn realized, but to steady him while he finished.
Marcus pointed toward the stairs. “You need to pack some things and stay with Aunt June for a while. Tessa and I will sort this out.”
Evelyn looked at him as though he had spoken in another language. “You are asking me to leave my home?”
“I’m telling you to take some time away.”
“That is not the same thing.”
His face hardened again. “Then yes. Leave.”
The small courage inside her trembled, but it did not break.
“No.”
Marcus leaned in. “Don’t make me call someone.”
“Call who?”
“The police, if I have to. Or a doctor. I don’t know.”
“A doctor?”
“You’re acting unstable.”
There it was. The
