I Paid His Down Payment, But My Son Thanked His Stepmom Instead Chapter 11

Then he saw the old bank statement.

First line, a $200,000 deposit.

Last line, a $200,000 withdrawal.

He stared at those two entries for a long, long time.

I saw his fingers trembling as he dug his nails into the paper.

“Mom. Is this…?”

I didn’t answer.

But he worked it out for himself.

The money he’d accused me of taking when he was twelve-the money from the trial.

I hadn’t touched a cent. It had sat in the bank for sixteen years.

In the end, it went into his new house-and into the IOU he owed Tamsin.

Rourke slowly turned to face her.

“Tamsin.” His voice was quiet-cold. “The money came from my mom selling her house and that $200,000.”

“You didn’t put in a cent.”

“Yet you had me sign an IOU and put your name on my deed.”

“You wrote what was on that shoebox when I was fifteen.”

“You taught me what to say in court.”

“And the night Grandma died, you were sitting in your car downstairs.”

He spoke one sentence at a time. Tamsin backed up with every word.

When her back hit the doorframe, she stopped crying.

“Yes. I did all of it.”

“But Rourke, don’t forget.”

“You said those words yourself. When the judge asked you, you could’ve kept your mouth shut”

“You were the one who wanted to be a ring bearer at my wedding. I couldn’t stop you.”

“You wrote the IOU yourself. You signed the mortgage papers yourself. I told you to read them, and you said you trusted me to handle everything.”

“And all those years, you chose not to answer Delphine’s calls.”

She stared straight at him, spacing out every word.

“You made those choices yourself.”

Rourke stood there, unable to say a word. Because everything she said was true.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, “You’re right. I made those choices.”

“So starting today, I’m making one more.”

He took out his phone and called his lawyer right in front of her.

“This is Rourke Callahan.”

“I want to sue over the co-owner on my deed and the IOU.”

He hung up and made another call.

This time, he called Barrett.

“Dad, Tamsin is here with Mom.”

“She just admitted that the night Grandma died, she shut off her phone on purpose and never sent

the money.”

The line went quiet for a long time.

“Rourke, that was years ago…”

“Dad, you brought Mom the papers giving up custody. You made her sign.”

Barrett had nothing to say.

Rourke ended the call and opened the door.

“Tamsin, get out.”

“Don’t come looking for me again. Don’t call me, either.”

“won’t be taking care of you in your old age.”

Tamsin looked at him, then at me. Her lips trembled for a long time.

She said nothing. Grabbed her bag and stormed out.

Her heels clattered unevenly down the hallway, fading away.

The room fell quiet.

Junie slipped out and gently closed the door behind her.

Rourke crouched down in front of me, tears dropping nonstop.

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me for what I did when I was twelve.”

“But for sixteen years, I could’ve asked someone what really happened.”

“All I had to do was ask once.”

I looked at him.

I thought of him at three, clutching my clothes, begging me not to leave.

I thought of him hiding behind Tamsin, shouting that he didn’t want a mother like me.

And I thought of him in this little room last night, taking Tamsin’s call, saying he had to go check

on her first.