Chapter 5 - The Reckoning
"Get your coats," Thomas said quietly to his children.
"Thomas, wait!" Helen cried, rushing toward him and trying to grab his arm. "We can fix this! Julian will pay you back! We are your parents, Tommy! You can't leave us with nothing!"
Thomas stepped back, avoiding her touch. "You have thirty days, Helen. I will also be contacting my lawyers first thing tomorrow morning to file a civil lawsuit for financial fraud and embezzlement. Every single dollar you stole from me to fund Julian’s lifestyle will be recovered, even if I have to force the sale of every asset you own."
"You wouldn't sue your own mother!" Robert screamed, his face purple with rage.
"You aren't my mother," Thomas said, looking at Helen. "And you aren't my father. You are just two people who lived off my hard work while treating my children like dirt. The gravy train is officially derailed."
Thomas turned to his children. Rebecca was no longer crying; she was looking at her father with a mixture of awe and absolute safety. Samuel held his sister’s hand, his shoulders straight, while little Jacob stood proudly by Thomas’s leg.
"Let's go home, guys," Thomas said gently, picking Jacob up in his arms.
"Can we get ice cream, Daddy?" Jacob whispered into his neck.
May you like
"We can get whatever you want, buddy," Thomas smiled, his heart finally feeling light.
As they walked out of the garden gate, Sarah followed close behind them, leaving the screaming, arguing relatives to pick up the pieces of a birthday party that had turned into the destruction of their gilded cage.
