Chapter 2

The atmosphere at the dinner table was strange and oppressive.

Vera set down the last dish—braised ribs. It had been Landon's favorite when he was little. She'd been busy cooking all day, but she didn't sit at the table herself. She just stood off to the side, watching the two brothers eat.

"Sit down and eat with us." Landon pulled out the chair beside him.

"No, no, you two have a couple of drinks. I'll just grab a bite in the kitchen." Vera stepped back out of habit, a meek smile on her face.

"Sit down." Landon's face darkened, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Vera flinched and instinctively glanced at Sean.

With a rib in his mouth, Sean mumbled, "Let her sit. The college boy has spoken, so quit putting on that act."

Only then did Vera sit down, carefully, daring only to reach for the plate of sautéed greens in front of her.

"Business been good lately?" Landon poured Sean a glass of cheap whiskey.

"You bet!" Sean's face flushed as he took a sip. "Half the building materials for that new development on the Southside come from me now. Just picked up a BMW X5 last month. Was gonna get a Mercedes G-Class, but figured that was too flashy. Hey, what is it you actually do out in the Capital? I never see you post anything about work online."

"Some finance and investment. I work for a firm," Landon said lightly.

"Finance? That's a con game, isn't it?" Sean scoffed. "Real industry's the solid bet. And you're not getting any younger—still no girlfriend, right? I'll set you up with someone. Little Liu in my company's accounting department is a good one, wide hips, good for having kids."

Landon let it pass. He turned to Vera instead. "I noticed your phone screen is all cracked. I'll get you a new one."

Vera quickly clapped a hand over her pocket. "No need, no need, it still works. A new one would just be a waste of money."

"Change it for what?" Sean suddenly slammed his chopsticks down on the table. "She's a housewife. She doesn't do business. As long as she can answer a call, that's plenty. Besides, I gave her five thousand for household expenses just last month, and it's already gone. What a spendthrift!"

"Five thousand?" Landon looked at the table full of dishes, then at the run-down house. "With prices these days, what can five thousand do? And that has to cover our nephew's tutoring too, doesn't it? Where is he?"

"He went to his grandmother's," Vera explained softly.

"Tutoring? That kid can't study for shit! I don't think he's got the brains for it. He can just come work construction with me one day!" Sean cursed. "And anyway, where did all the money go? Straight to propping up her broke family, that's where!"

Vera's face flushed instantly, tears brimming in her eyes. "I didn't... My mother was in the hospital last month, and I didn't dare touch a single cent of our money. I borrowed all of it from the neighbors..."

"Borrowed? You borrow it and never pay it back? In the end I'm the one footing the bill!" Sean jabbed a finger at Vera's face. "Let me tell you something, Vera. Don't think selling off some cheap jade pendant back then makes you some hero. I've fed you and kept you all these years, food and drink and everything else. Whatever you were owed, it's been paid back a long time ago!"

Smack!

Landon set his glass down hard on the table.

"That pendant wasn't cheap jade," Landon said, staring into his eyes, spacing out each word. "It was your wife's whole life. Without that jade, there'd be no me today."

Sean felt a little unnerved under that stare, but the liquor stiffened his neck. "Fine, fine, she paid for your Ivy League degree, all right? But now I pull in millions a year—isn't that my own doing? This whole family, every mouth at the table, who's the one keeping them all fed?"

He pulled a wad of red bills from his wallet, maybe two or three thousand, and flung them in front of Vera like he was tossing funeral money.

"Take it! And stop moping around in front of Landon like I abuse you. Go buy yourself a couple of decent outfits tomorrow. I've got a dinner over there in a few days—I'm bringing you along, so don't embarrass me!"

The red bills scattered across the greasy tabletop, one of them even landing in the soup.

Vera lowered her head, picking them up one by one, wiping them clean with a tissue, tucking them away carefully.

Watching those movements of hers, so meek they seemed to sink into the dust, Landon felt a stab in his heart, like a needle going in.

How had his once generous, big-hearted brother turned completely into this nouveau riche creature?

Late that night, faint sounds of arguing drifted from the master bedroom next door.

"...Who is that woman? Why did you wire her fifty-two thousand?" It was Vera's voice, choked with suppressed sobs.

"A client! A client, you understand? It's just for show! You go through my phone one more time and see what happens!" Sean roared.

Landon took out his phone, the cold glow of the screen lighting up his icy face. He sent a message to his assistant:

Look into Sean Sullivan's cash flow at Grand Vista Building Materials. And look into any women who've recently turned up around him.