Chapter 13
Kevin discovered Morrow House and immediately tried to use it against Richard.
Predictable.
“So Dad stole too.”
We were in the old Morgan dining room.
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
Kevin smiled.
Then I continued.
“And he told me.”
The smile vanished.
“After being caught.”
“Yes.”
“He still used the card.”
“Yes.”
“You’re letting him keep a project.”
“Yes.”
Kevin stood.
“So this is favoritism.”
“No.”
I waited until he stopped moving.
“Your seven million funded a private faction and luxury spending.”
Silence.
“Richard’s unauthorized spending partly funded Morrow House.”
“Still theft.”
“Yes.”
I did not protect my father from the word.
Kevin had expected me to.
“That is why he lost financial authority.”
Kevin stared.
Consequences did not need to be identical because actions were not identical.
He hated that.
People who want fairness only after being caught usually mean sameness.
Then he said something uglier.
“At least Madison has ambition.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Noah cries over cake.”
There it was again.
My son as weakness.
I moved closer.
“Say his name like that again and this conversation ends permanently.”
Kevin laughed.
“See? Emotional.”
“Yes.”
I did not deny it.
“I am emotional about my child.”
His smile faded.
“That doesn’t make you stronger than me.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“But mocking a three-year-old definitely doesn’t make you stronger than him.”
Silence.
Kevin finally revealed what bothered him.
Noah would inherit my position.
He assumed.
There.
Succession jealousy.
Again.
“You built a faction because you thought my son would replace you.”
Kevin looked away.
He had spent years imagining Morgan as a throne passing through men.
Me secretly controlling the accounts offended him enough.
My son someday inheriting influence terrified him.
I almost laughed.
“Noah is three.”
“You know how families work.”
“Yes.”
I leaned closer.
“That’s why I’m changing ours.”
No automatic inheritance.
No child promised a chair before knowing whether he wanted one.
No cousin trained to resent a toddler over future power.
Kevin stared at me as if I had dismantled gravity.
May you like
Good.
Maybe Morgan needed new physics.
