My voice went cold as steel. "Tell them this. I will fulfill my legal obligation to support them financially in their old age. But that is where it ends. Just money. No family."
The breathing on the other end of the line changed.
Victor Swanson.
He had been listening the entire time. Now, realizing I wasn't going to back down, he couldn't stay silent.
His tone was as lofty and arrogant as ever. "Do you still not realize you are wrong?"
I scoffed. "You have money—why didn't you lend it to me when I was desperate?"
"You—"
"Eighty-eight tables. Fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars a table. You have a fortune to help her show off, but not a dime to help your daughter in an emergency."
True to his professorial nature, Victor remained infuriatingly calm. "That is my money. I have the right to dispose of it as I see fit."
"I know." My grip tightened on the phone. "It's your money, your connections. Use them on whoever you want."
A breath. Steadying.
"Then how I use my future money and my time is also my business."
I hung up and turned off the phone.
Finally, the world was quiet.
...
In the adult world, there is no time for self-pity.