“There’s something else you should know,” I said, the words feeling heavy in the sterilized air. I told him about the mortgage. I told him about the $486,000.
Grandpa Joe went perfectly still. He did the math in his head, his jaw tightening with every passing second. “She took your money for nine years… and she couldn’t give you three hours?”
“She didn’t know it was me, Grandpa.”
“She knew the money was coming from somewhere! She never questioned it? She just spent it on seaweed wraps and Vanessa’s lifestyle?” He stood up, pacing the small room. “I’m making a call. You stay quiet.”
He walked into the hallway, but the walls of County General weren’t thick enough to muffle his rage.
“Patricia? It’s your father. No, don’t talk to me about the cruise. I just found out Rebecca has been paying your mortgage since she was nineteen. Nearly half a million dollars, Patricia. The daughter you called ‘chaotic’ has been keeping you under a roof for a decade.”
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