Chapter 6 - The Broken Golden Boy
Before Marcus and I could finalize the paperwork to file criminal complaints, my phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text from an unknown number.
I opened it.
*Austin, it’s Ryan. We’re at the Denny’s on Highway 4. Please don't block this number. I need to talk to you. Alone. Kelsey doesn't know I’m texting you.*
I looked at Marcus and showed him the screen. Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Could be an ambush. Could be Eleanor holding the phone."
"I know Ryan," I said. "When he’s cocky, he writes in all caps and demands things. When he’s terrified, he writes like this. I’ll meet him. Stay here, keep the security system live, and keep drafting those affidavits."
Twenty minutes later, I walked into the dimly lit diner off the interstate. The smell of burnt coffee and grease hung heavy in the air.
Ryan was sitting in the corner booth, slumped over a plate of untouched scrambled eggs. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot and ringed with dark purple circles. His hair was disheveled, and his hands trembled slightly as he wrapped them around a ceramic mug.
I slid into the vinyl booth across from him. He flinched, then looked up, his expression hollow.
"Where are Kelsey and the kids?" I asked neutrally.
"Sleeping in the SUV in the parking lot," Ryan mumbled, staring down at the table. "I ran the heat for an hour so they’d stay warm. She’s... she’s still on her phone, Austin. She’s messaging all our high school friends, telling them you’re a monster. She wants me to go to the local news station."
"Is that why you called me here? To threaten me with the local news?"
"No," Ryan snapped, his voice cracking with genuine anguish. He looked up, tears pooling in his eyes. "No, Austin. I called you because... because I went through Mom’s purse this morning."
I stayed silent, letting him speak.
"Last night, after you kicked us out, we drove to Mom and Dad’s house," Ryan continued, his voice shaking. "We banged on the door for an hour. The lights were on, Austin. Dad’s truck was in the driveway. But they wouldn't answer the door. Mom texted me through the blinds and said, *'It’s too painful to see you like this. Go find a hotel. We will fix this Monday.'*"
A bitter, dry laugh escaped my throat. "Of course she did."
"She locked us out," Ryan whispered, the realization shattering whatever remained of his golden-boy illusion. "We had her grandbabies in the car in the freezing cold, and she wouldn't even open the deadbolt. She told us to go away so the neighbors wouldn't see the U-Haul."
"Eleanor only loves what reflects well on her, Ryan. The moment you became an embarrassment, she locked the door."
"Then I remembered what you said on the porch," Ryan choked out. "About the IRS. About Dad’s store. So while Kelsey was in the gas station bathroom this morning, I used Dad’s spare key to get into his home office through the garage. I found his safe. It was unlocked."
Ryan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a stack of folded papers, sliding them across the formica table toward me.
"I found the foreclosure notice on their house," Ryan said, tears finally spilling down his cheeks. "And I found... I found the college fund statements for Leo and Maya. Austin... there's nothing left. She took everything Grandpa left for my kids. She took it six months ago."
I looked at the broken man across from me. For years, I had resented Ryan. I had resented his unearned arrogance, the way he coasted through life on our parents' praise while I was treated like a workhorse whose only value was my utility. But looking at him now, stripped of his bravado and sitting in a dirty diner booth, I didn't feel hatred. I felt pity.
He had been their pawn just as much as I was supposed to be their victim. The only difference was that I had built my own armor out of independence, while Ryan had allowed their coddling to make him soft, dependent, and utterly defenseless.
"They didn't buy that house for you, Ryan," I said gently.
"I know," he sobbed, burying his face in his rough hands. "Marcus called Dad’s office phone while I was standing in the room. I heard the voicemail Marcus left on Dad's machine. Marcus laid it all out. They were going to use your house to take a loan to save themselves, and when the payments defaulted... Kelsey and I would have been on the street anyway."
"Yes," I said. "You would have."
"Why did they do this to us, Austin?" Ryan cried, his shoulders shaking. "I worked for Dad for ten years! I took minimum wage because he promised me I’d inherit the business! I did everything they asked!"
"Because Dad is a coward, Ryan. And Mom is a predator who views her children as financial assets to be liquidated when times get tough."
Ryan wiped his nose with a cheap paper napkin, taking several shuddering breaths. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a desperate, childish plea. "What do I do, Austin? Kelsey is going to leave me. We have no savings. My credit is ruined. I have two kids sleeping in an SUV outside a Denny's, and in ninety days, our parents won't even have a house for us to visit."
I looked at my brother. The easy thing to do would be to walk away. To tell him he made his bed and now he had to sleep in it. But I thought of Leo and Maya—innocent kids who didn't choose to have narcissists for grandparents and an overgrown child for a father.
"Here is what is going to happen, Ryan," I said, leaning forward, my voice commanding and absolute. "You are going to walk out to that SUV. You are going to take Kelsey’s phone, delete that live stream, and take away her access to social media until this is over."
Ryan nodded eagerly. "Okay. Done."
"Then," I continued, "you are going to drive your family to the Extended Stay America down by the tech corridor. I will pay for two weeks upfront. It has a kitchenette, two queen beds, and a hot shower for the kids."
"Austin... you don't have to do that..."
"I’m doing it for Leo and Maya, not for you," I said coldly. "And in exchange, Ryan, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."
"Anything," Ryan promised, his voice trembling with genuine humility for the first time in his life. "Whatever you want, Austin. Just tell me."
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"Tomorrow morning, Mom and Dad think they are meeting me at my house with a notary to bully me into signing away my life," I said, a dark smile touching my lips. "Instead, you and I are going to Eleanor’s house. And we are going to end this family dynasty once and for all."
***
