I turned back to Miller. “So, what exactly is your plan for me?”
He lifted his shoulders, as if this wasn’t a big deal. “Loans. Work-study. You’ll manage. Boys always do.” He said it with such confidence, as if being a teenage boy magically paid for tuition.
That was when I decided to drop my own bomb. “I already talked to Grandma and Grandpa,” I said, my voice steady. “They said they’ll pay my tuition directly to the school.”
I hadn’t told them everything, but I’d seen enough—the overdue bills, the broken machines, my parents panicking in private—to know the college money might already be gone.
Caroline’s face went white. Miller froze like someone had unplugged him. “You what?” he asked, his voice sharp with disbelief.
“I talked to them weeks ago,” I said. “They knew enough to understand things weren’t stable here. They offered to help.”
Liliana scoffed. “You actually went and begged the grandparents? That’s pathetic.”
I ignored her. Miller looked like someone had cracked his armor open. Not because he cared about my education, but because he was no longer the one holding the financial power. The control was gone.
“This is unacceptable,” he seethed. “You do not go behind our backs and involve my in-laws in our private family matters.”
“They offered,” I repeated, “and I accepted, because I needed a real plan.”
My mom whispered, “Cash, you should have come to us first.”
“I did,” I said, looking right at her. “You promised you’d take care of it, and then you told me the money was gone.”
That was when Miller’s ego truly snapped. “You’re extorting them!” he shouted, his face turning red. “Manipulating them with some sob story so they’ll pay for you! You’re making us look incompetent!” He stood up and pointed at me like I was a threat to the family brand. “You embarrassed us with that job, and now you’re embarrassing us with this!”
By that evening, the smear campaign had begun. Miller called his brother, then his cousins, then his own mother. I heard snippets through the wall. He went behind our backs… He’s twisting Caroline’s parents around his finger… He’s turning into a problem.
