Chapter 6 - BRANDON OWNED MORE THAN I KNEW
Brandon arrived at Grandpa’s house the next morning without Jessica.
I heard his car before I saw it.
He came through the front door angry.
“You're destroying Dad.”
I was eating cereal.
“Good morning.”
“Do you think this is funny?”
“No.”
He pointed at Grandpa.
“You froze the company accounts.”
Grandpa continued drinking coffee.
“Temporary restriction.”
“You can't do that.”
“I can challenge transactions involving my property.”
Brandon looked at me.
“This is because of you.”
That sentence was becoming popular.
“No. It's because Dad took things that weren't his.”
“You don't know what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
He paced.
Finally he sat.
The gambling began two years earlier.
Small amounts.
Sports apps.
Options trading.
Cryptocurrency.
Then a private poker game.
Then casino credit.
Jessica discovered $180,000 in debt.
She threatened to leave.
Brandon begged Dad.
Dad used company money at first.
Then the company couldn't absorb more.
That was when Mom suggested my trust.
“You knew?” I asked.
Brandon looked away.
“You knew the money came from my college fund?”
“Dad said he would put it back.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“Yes.”
The word was almost inaudible.
I felt strangely calm.
“Did you know I hadn't agreed?”
“Yes.”
Grandpa closed his eyes.
Brandon leaned forward.
“You don't understand. Jessica was pregnant.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She lost the baby.”
My anger paused.
Not disappeared.
Paused.
Brandon continued.
“Everything was falling apart.”
For the first time, I saw pain beneath the arrogance.
Real pain.
Then he ruined it.
“You weren't using the money yet.”
I stared at him.
“So my future was available because your emergency came first?”
“You're smart. You would've figured something out.”
There it was.
The family logic again.
Emily will survive.
Therefore Emily can be sacrificed.
“What happened to the $224,000?”
Brandon rubbed his face.
“I paid debts.”
“All of it?”
“Most.”
“What about the Vegas wires?”
His expression shifted.
Grandpa noticed.
“How much did you gamble after receiving Emily’s money?”
Brandon stood.
“This is pointless.”
“How much?”
“About forty thousand.”
My stomach turned.
He had taken my college fund to repair gambling losses.
Then gambled more.
Jessica had not come because she didn't know that part.
I realized it immediately.
“Jessica thinks the money paid old debt.”
Brandon glared at me.
“Stay out of my marriage.”
“You used my money to lie to your wife.”
He grabbed his keys.
Before leaving, he turned toward Grandpa.
“If Dad loses the company, dozens of people lose jobs.”
Grandpa’s expression hardened.
“Then perhaps your father should stop treating a company with employees like a personal piggy bank.”
Brandon left.
An hour later, Jessica called me.
Her voice shook.
“Did Brandon gamble after your parents gave him the money?”
I closed my eyes.
He had told her.
Or she had overheard.
“I think you should ask him.”
“I am asking you.”
I hated being dragged into their marriage.
But I hated lies more.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then a sob.
“How much?”
“About forty thousand.”
She disconnected.
That evening, Brandon did not go home.
By midnight, nobody knew where he was.
Mom called me screaming that I had destroyed his marriage.
Dad called Grandpa demanding the business freeze be lifted.
Then at 1:13 a.m., I received a text from Brandon.
Just one photograph.
A parking garage.
His truck.
And a message:
Maybe everyone would be better off without me.
My anger vanished.
May you like
I woke Grandpa.
Whatever Brandon had done, I was not going to let my brother disappear because shame had convinced him there was only one way out.
