Chapter 1 - The Party Thomas Paid For
Robert remained half-buried in the ruined cake.
White frosting covered his cream-colored suit.
A strawberry slid slowly down his shoulder.
No one laughed.
Thomas stood between Robert and the three children.
Rebecca pressed herself against her father’s side.
Samuel’s arms still shook from carrying the tray.
Jacob stared at the dirty cloth lying on the grass.
Thomas looked around at the silent guests.
“Put your phones down.”
Several relatives obeyed immediately.
Two teenage cousins continued recording.
Thomas turned toward them.
“I said put them down.”
Madison lowered her phone, but her older brother Cole smirked.
“You just hit Grandpa in front of everyone.”
Thomas’s voice remained calm.
“And you recorded three exhausted children instead of helping them.”
Cole’s smile disappeared.
Robert pushed himself upright.
“You have lost your mind.”
Thomas looked down at him.
“No.”
“I finally walked in early enough to see what happens when I’m not here.”
Helen stepped away from the untouched side of the cake.
Her face remained cold.
“Your children were asked to help.”
Rebecca looked at her grandmother.
“You made us carry everything.”
Helen ignored her.
Thomas crouched beside Samuel.
“When did you last eat?”
Samuel swallowed.
“Breakfast.”
Thomas checked his watch.
It was almost six in the evening.
He turned to Jacob.
“What did they give you?”
Jacob looked down.
“Water.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
Rebecca wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“Grandma said the food was for real guests.”
A murmur passed through the lawn.
Helen’s expression finally shifted.
“That is not what I said.”
Rebecca looked directly at her.
“Yes, it is.”
Thomas raised one hand toward the catering staff.
“Stop serving.”
Robert stared at him.
“You cannot shut down my birthday celebration.”
Thomas faced the head caterer.
“Mrs. Alvarez, who signed your contract?”
“You did, Mr. Thomas.”
“Who paid the deposit?”
“You did.”
“Who paid the remaining balance this morning?”
“You did.”
Thomas looked at the musicians.
“And who hired you?”
The bandleader slowly raised his hand.
“You did, sir.”
Thomas turned toward the guests.
“Then the party is over.”
Robert climbed out of the cake.
“You think money makes you powerful?”
Thomas stepped closer.
“No.”
“But it does allow me to stop paying for people who starve my children.”
Helen’s voice sharpened.
“You are being dramatic.”
Thomas removed his jacket and wrapped it around Samuel’s shoulders.
“My eight-year-old son can barely keep his hands still.”
He pointed toward Jacob.
“My six-year-old has been scrubbing tables on his knees.”
Then he touched Rebecca’s cheek.
“And my daughter was crying under a pile of plates while her cousins filmed her.”
Robert wiped frosting from his face.
“They needed discipline.”
Thomas’s eyes hardened.
“For what?”
Robert looked toward Helen.
Helen looked toward Madison.
For one brief second, no one answered.
Rebecca gripped Thomas’s sleeve.
“I know why they punished us.”
Thomas looked down at her.
Rebecca glanced toward the second-floor window of the house.
“I saw what Grandpa hid in his office.”
May you like
Across the lawn, Helen’s face went pale.
Then the lights inside Robert’s office suddenly went dark.
