The Love Of Money - Episode 234
03-08-25 (19:03)
"No," I said. "Danielle."
"Oh wow! I remember her."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah" Richie said. "She's way out of your league."
"Don't I know It," I muttered.
"You gonna do it?" He asked.
"I don't know. We still have some things to talk about,
but maybe."
"Well, as a wise man once told me, there are plenty of
other girls as interesting as Danielle, and if my time
here has taught me anything, there are plenty of really
good ones interested in you. Know your worth, king."
I chuckled. "Thanks, bro."
Eventually, seven o'clock came around. Emily came
home with Natashya and Megan. Natashya made
herself scarce, and Megan decided to hang out with her
to give us some family time. As soon as Mom and Dad
arrived, we sat down to a veritable feast
If I had any lingering doubts about Camille, they were
put to rest. Dinner was fantastic-I'd never been much of
a cold soup guy, but the gazpacho was amazing.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
The family small talk didn't last long, however. It took
all of five minutes for my mom to start grilling me
about my love life. She asked about Erin and gushed
over how much she liked my 'little assistant. She asked
about Jessica's presence last night, and I admitted that
she had come back to town to patch things back up but
that wasn't interested in repairing our relationship. I did
everything in my power to keep details to a minimum,
and judging by the look on Emily's face, Emily knew I
was leaving a lot of information off the table.
Considering what I knew about her and Natashya, she
was probably fine with it.
Finally, I brought things around to a safer topic.
"So, I've been trying to think of ways to do this without
you guys knowing, but honestly, I think I'm just going
to tell you some of my plans, and you'll just have to
accept them."
That got a raised eyebrow from my mother, but I went
on despite the natural inclination to shrivel like a slug
exposed to salt when given that look. "I'm paying off
your house."
My mom and dad immediately broke out in a chorus of
protests, but I cut them off. "On top of that, I'm setting
you guys both up with some extra money. Work as
long as you'd like, but you don't have to worry about
retirement. The money you'll have will allow you to live
comfortably and do all the things you couldn't do when
you had all four of us at home."
"Marcus!" Mom said, looking from me to Dad, then back
to me. "You know we can't accept this!"
"You don't get a choice. I want to do it, and it's not
putting me out at all. I don't want this to come off the
wrong way, but the money it takes to pay off your
house and set up your retirement isn't much. It's
literally the least I can do, and I want you to let me do
it."
Mom opened her mouth to say something, but Dad laid
a hand over hers and said, "Shawna." That was all he
had to say. His tone was soft, but it had an underlying
current of firmness. Henry Upton wasn't a man who
often put his foot down, so it was all the more
meaningful when he chose to. My mom gave him a
long, meaningful look, then looked at me, started to say
something, then simply closed her mouth and nodded.
I thought I was going to have to fight much harder for
that. "Thanks," I said.
"I'm also setting up a trust for Ryan. I'm gonna load it
up, and I want you two to be trustees along with
Haley."
"Not Jacob?" Dad asked.
I shook my head. "No. He's too irresponsible to manage
it. Haley's way better, but while she's with Jacob, I
don't think she's in the best place to make good
decisions managing Ryan's trust. Anything she decides
to do has to be signed off by you two."
"If Jacob finds out," Emily said. "He's going to blow up. I
don't think he'd recover from the embarrassment."
"Then he better not find out," I said. "I'm also gonna tell
her that if she decides to leave Jacob, she doesn't have
to worry about where' to go. I know you guys would
take her in, but I don't want things to become more
difficult between you and Jacob. I'll happily give her a
place to stay until she can figure something out. I'll also
help with any legal troubles she has."
"If it comes to that," Mom said, "Jacob would never
forgive you." Don't forget to leave a Comment 
