Chapter 3 - The Morning Meltdown
The sun had barely risen when Marcus’s cell phone began ringing relentlessly.
He ignored the first ten calls, calmly pouring himself a cup of black coffee while the kids slept in.
On the eleventh ring, he finally answered, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on the counter.
"Marcus, what on earth is wrong with the bank?" Margaret's panicked voice shrieked through the speaker.
"I am at the country club trying to pay for my morning spa treatment, and my platinum card was declined!"
"That is because the card is canceled, Mother," Marcus replied smoothly, taking a sip of his coffee.
There was a long, stunned silence on the other end of the line.
"You cannot be serious," Richard's voice suddenly boomed in the background, sounding furious.
"You are throwing a temper tantrum over a little joke we played on the children last night?"
"Child abuse is not a joke, Richard," Marcus stated, dropping the title of 'Dad' forever.
"The catering company called me this morning demanding the remaining ten thousand dollars for the open bar," Richard yelled.
"You need to wire that money immediately, or we will be a laughingstock!"
"You should have thought about that before you treated my children like stray dogs," Marcus fired back.
"From this moment on, you are financially cut off."
"No more mortgage payments on your mansion, no more luxury car leases, and no more country club dues."
Margaret let out a loud, theatrical gasp, as if she were physically struck.
"You are condemning us to live in the streets!" she wailed dramatically.
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"I am leaving you to live within your own means," Marcus corrected her coldly.
He pressed the red button to end the call and immediately blocked their numbers.
