After reorganizing the family, the deformed father and son both regret it

It's been five years since I married Jake Harrison.

My mom was gravely ill, needing surgery urgently.

My brother, Liam, had scraped together almost everything, but he was still short two grand.

I was just about to transfer the funds when Jake casually tossed me an invitation.

"The charity auction is Friday, right? Amber loves that ten-million-dollar necklace. Use your name to bid on it."

My finger hovered over the "send" button, but then I punched in my banking password.

My account was frozen.

Seeing my face, Jake finally elaborated.

"I didn't want you getting distracted. I put a hold on your account. You want some money from me?"

So I asked him for the two thousand dollars to save my mom's life.

He scowled and refused.

"If you don't want to do it, just say so. You don't need to use two grand to try and mess with me."

01

When Jake's "friend," Amber, posted a photo on social media, I was racing back home with a box of cash.

Instead, I found my mother's wake.

My brother, eyes bloodshot, pushed me away, the money spilling across the floor.

"What's the point of you showing up now? How many times did I try to call you? Did you ever pick up?

"Tara, did you choose some guy over the woman who gave you life?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but Liam just looked at the scattered bills and scoffed.

"It's too late. Take your dirty money and get out of here. Mom was begging to see you one last time before she passed. She wanted her ungrateful daughter.

"But you don't deserve that, do you?"

Tears streamed down my face as I desperately tried to wipe them away.

Then I knelt down in front of the funeral parlor.

My brother wouldn't let me light incense.

He said that Mom was in agony at the end.

Her illness had been dragging on, but she hadn't wanted to tell me, afraid of being a burden. If he hadn't been desperate, he wouldn't have asked me for help.

He told me this wasn't my home anymore and that I should just go back and be a wealthy housewife.

I knelt there for a day and a night.

I didn't get to see my mom one last time before they took her to the crematorium.

02

Exhausted, I bought a burner phone in a small-town store.

I called Jake again, but my call still couldn't go through.

Right. He had blocked my number.

The day I got home, we had a screaming match.

He smashed my phone, froze my account.

His icy glare had cut to the bone.

"This necklace means a lot to Amber. This isn’t the time for you to throw a tantrum."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum."

He thought I was just being jealous, trying to make him look bad.

"Not throwing a tantrum? You're trying to insult me with two grand?

"If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back."

I ignored him, emptied the safe, grabbed a box of cash, and drove home that night, only to arrive too late.

Now, using this new phone, I logged into my messaging app, hesitated for a moment, and finally typed out: ["We're done. Let's get a divorce."]

As soon as I sent it, I noticed a notification....