“Possibly.”
That answer slowed me down.
Dad wasn’t acting smug.
He looked serious. “I noticed some things before today.”
“What things?”
He hesitated.
Then said, “Questions.”
“What questions?”
Mom answered. “About us.”
I frowned. “Everyone asks about people’s parents.”
“I know,” Dad said. “But hers kept circling back to money.”
My stomach tightened. I didn’t say anything.
Dad continued. “You mentioned she asked whether your car was yours.”
I remembered. “And whether we bought it for you.”
I looked away.
Mom said, “She asked about the house in your vacation photos.”
“It’s Uncle Mike’s place.”
“Right.”
Dad nodded. “And after you told her that, she asked if our family owned other property.”
I remembered that too. At the time, I’d laughed.
Chloe had a curious personality.
At least, that was how I’d interpreted it.
Dad continued. “She asked what I did.”
“So?”
“Then she looked up the business.”
My head snapped toward him. “What?”
“You told me she knew the store name.”
I had. I’d forgotten.
Mom added, “Then she asked whether your tuition was covered.”
I crossed my arms. “She wasn’t demanding my bank statements.”
“No,” Dad said. “And I didn’t say she was a bad person.”
“Then why do all this?”
He looked toward my room. “Because every time we brought it up, you said we were imagining things.”
I was getting more irritated. “So instead of talking to me, you decided to run some weird social experiment?”
“We did talk to you.”
“And I disagreed.”
“Exactly.”
I stared at him.
Dad sighed.
“Emma, when someone tells you what they think about a person, it’s easy to dismiss it. I wanted you to watch for yourself.”
That still felt manipulative.
“Why do you care this much?”
His face changed. Mom looked at him.
Then Dad said, “Because I had a friend like that once.”
I stopped. “When?”
“College.”
He rubbed his jaw. “His name was Darren.”
I’d heard the name once or twice. Dad rarely talked about him.
“We were roommates sophomore year. Best friends, I thought.”
He looked down the hallway.
“My dad had just sold part of his business. Darren found out my family had money.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing dramatic at first.”
Dad gave a humorless laugh.
“That’s why I didn’t notice.”
Darren started asking Dad to cover dinner.
Then rent. Then trips. Then loans. Then money for a business idea.
Every request was framed as something friends did for each other.
