“We are your actual family Harper!”
I took a long moment to deeply look at every single person in that room who had laughed when Dad publicly excluded me from their lives. They had fully expected me to stay home and raise their noisy children while they went off to celebrate on a beautiful sandy beach.
“Family is certainly not a word you get to use only when you desperately need free labor or money or absolute silence.”
Two incredibly stressful months later my parents were forced to sell their beloved anniversary house just to pay off their massive debts. Dad only managed to save his construction company after he officially resigned as the president and fully surrendered his entire ownership stake to the corporate board.
Cameron had to permanently close one of his struggling restaurants so he could take a regular salaried job just to survive. Madison ended up selling her fancy luxury vehicle before completely liquidating her trendy boutique to begin repaying the massive credit line she had recklessly abused.
Wyatt got evicted from the trust property and had to move his belongings into a very small apartment across town. Mother spent her days calling various distant relatives to falsely claim that I had completely ruined their perfectly happy lives out of pure spite and jealousy.
The official civil audit records completely contradicted her dramatic lies and told a much different story of long term financial fraud.
Six months after that terrible dinner I was happily standing on a beautiful beach in the Bahamas with Carmen and the loyal employees who had originally helped me build Apex Ventures. We ended up staying in the exact same luxury villa that my greedy relatives had fully expected to occupy for themselves.
Right as the gorgeous tropical sunset began my expensive phone buzzed inside my pocket.
It was a text message from Dad saying they really missed me and begging for a chance to finally talk things over.
I simply smiled before turning the device face down in the warm sand and ignoring him completely.
For so many years I had unfortunately mistaken the feeling of being desperately needed by them for the feeling of being genuinely loved. Surrounded by wonderful people who truly respected my boundaries without constantly demanding huge pieces of my soul I finally understood the massive difference.
Carmen lifted her tropical drink high into the warm evening air. “I would like to propose a toast to family.”
