Chapter 3 - The Golden Boy’s Fall
By the time I left the precinct, the sun had set on what was supposed to be the best day of my life. Maya, my best friend, was waiting for me in the lobby. She didn't ask questions; she just wrapped me in a fierce, crushing hug and drove me to her apartment.
The next morning, my phone was blowing up. Lucas was calling repeatedly. I ignored the first fifteen calls, but finally, I answered, putting him on speaker so Maya could hear.
“Are you insane?!” Lucas’s voice blared through the speaker, frantic and high-pitched. “Mom and Dad didn't come home last night! The police just showed up at the house with a search warrant! They took the computers, Lila! They took my car!”
“It’s not your car, Lucas,” I said evenly, sipping the coffee Maya had handed me. “It’s my car. It was bought with loans taken out in my name. The police are simply seizing the assets purchased with stolen funds.”
“You’re destroying our family over money?!” he screamed. “You were always jealous of me! Just because Mom and Dad loved me more, you had to pull this psycho stunt to ruin my life!”
“You ruined your own life, Lucas,” I countered, feeling a profound sense of detachment from the boy I once called my brother. “You failed out of school twice. You blew thousands on sports betting. You let them steal my future so you wouldn't have to face the consequences of your own incompetence.”
“When they get out, they are going to disown you!” he threatened, his voice cracking.
May you like
“They can’t disown someone who already walked away,” I said quietly. “Enjoy taking the bus, Lucas. And you might want to start looking for a job. The bank accounts are frozen.”
I hung up and blocked his number. The golden boy was finally going to have to learn how the real world worked, and he was going to have to do it without my stolen money padding his fall.
