Chapter 5 - The Reunion Franklin Controlled
The backyard looked exactly as Maris remembered.
The deck boards had faded.
The sliding door still stuck halfway open.
Franklin’s grill stood near the railing.
Only the people had changed.
Colton had gained weight and confidence.
Derek wore a new watch he probably charged to the company.
Elaine looked smaller.
Franklin remained the same.
He greeted Maris without standing.
“So you finally remembered where you came from.”
Maris set her briefcase beside the table.
“I never forgot.”
Colton smirked.
“Business must be slow if you had time for us.”
“My business is fine.”
“Because you stole Dad’s clients.”
“They hired me.”
Derek opened a beer.
“Same thing.”
Elaine carried salad onto the deck and avoided Maris’s eyes.
Maris watched her carefully.
No ledger.
Franklin tapped his bottle against the table.
“Your mother says you’ve been asking about old company records.”
Colton’s smile widened.
Derek stopped chewing.
Maris kept her face calm.
“I asked about my money.”
Franklin laughed.
“You mean the money you gave this family?”
“I mean the inheritance you promised to repay.”
“You lived in this house rent-free.”
“I was twenty-one.”
“We fed you.”
“I worked seventy-hour weeks for the company.”
“And gained experience you used to compete against us.”
There it was.
Every sacrifice rewritten as something she owed him for.
Franklin leaned back.
“If you came here looking for money, leave now.”
Maris looked toward Elaine.
Her mother lowered the salad bowl.
One finger tapped nervously against the glass.
Three times.
Their childhood signal.
Wait.
Maris understood.
Elaine had not forgotten the ledger.
She had hidden it somewhere nearby.
Lunch began.
Franklin dominated every conversation.
He praised Colton’s leadership.
He praised Derek’s loyalty.
He described Maris’s consulting firm as a temporary rebellion.
Then he raised his bottle.
“I’m proud of my sons.”
Maris knew what came next before he said it.
Franklin looked directly at her.
“But you? You’re a disgrace.”
Elaine closed her eyes.
Colton laughed.
Derek leaned forward.
Maris felt the old pain rise.
The desperate need to explain herself.
To prove she was good.
To earn the respect Franklin had never intended to give.
Then she looked at the black folder.
She did not need his respect.
She needed the truth.
“Happy Father’s Day.”
May you like
She drove the envelope across the table.
👉 Franklin expected an apology inside the envelope—but the first page carried the name of the company he thought Walter had dissolved.
