Chapter 8 - Rock Bottom
For a long time after Chloe left, the room was dead silent. Mark sat with his head buried in his hands. I didn't offer him a tissue. I didn't rush to comfort him. He needed to feel the absolute weight of his decisions.
“I lost everything,” he mumbled through his fingers. “My job. My fiancé. My home.”
“You threw it away,” I corrected him. “You handed a loaded gun to a stranger and pointed it at your own mother.”
He looked up at me, his eyes red and brimming with tears. “I’m sorry. Mom, I’m so stupid. I just wanted her to love me. I wanted to be the big man who could provide for her. I’m so sorry.”
“Apologies don't rebuild trust, Mark. Actions do.”
“What do I do now?” he begged. “I have nothing. I can’t even afford food tonight.”
I looked at my son. The boy I had raised with every privilege, who had taken it all for granted.
“Arthur,” I said without looking away from Mark. “Give him the envelope.”
Arthur stepped forward and placed a standard white envelope on the table. Mark opened it with trembling hands. Inside was a crisp $100 bill and a piece of paper with an address.
“What is this?” Mark asked.
“It’s the address of a boarding house on the east side of town. The hundred dollars will cover your first three nights and some groceries. You will not come back to Sterling & Co. You will not come back to the estate. You will find a job, any job, and you will learn how the real world operates.”
“Mom...”
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“If you call me asking for money, I will block you again. When you can show me a paycheck you earned with your own sweat, we can have lunch. Do you understand?”
He looked at the hundred-dollar bill, then nodded slowly. “Yes, ma'am.”
