"Meryl grew up helping run her family's shop, keeping the books. With her in charge, you won't have a thing to worry about."
When I said nothing, he shifted his gaze to Madge Sullivan. Then he looked down at the bowl of chicken soup in front of me.
"Sis, how many times have I told you? Mom has a bad stomach. She shouldn't be drinking soup with her meals. Why can you never remember? And you keep putting it right in front of her."
"No wonder they say a married daughter is like water poured out the door. When Mom's old and needs someone to take care of her day and night, that's going to fall on me and your sister-in-law."
Madge took after me in temperament. She wasn't someone you could push around.
She fired back without hesitation. "Have you lost your mind? Ever since you got involved with this woman, you've been siphoning money from the company's finance department to buy her luxury cars and mansions."
"Mom's been more than lenient with you, turning a blind eye every single time."
"And now you have the nerve to bring a gold-digger home to fight over the family fortune? Do you have any conscience left at all?"
His little scheme laid bare, James flushed red, then went white, frozen in place.
It was the outsider, Meryl, who had plenty of volume to spare. She leapt to her feet and planted herself in front of her man, hands on her hips, voice loud enough to rattle the windows.
"Madge Sullivan, who do you think you are? Talking to your older brother like that? And you call yourself a young lady from a prominent family—you don't have an ounce of class."
"Your mother wasted her money sending you to etiquette school. Twenty years old and still leeching off your parents. Shameless."
"Enough!"
I slammed my chopsticks down on the table.
The air in the room turned to ice.
Meryl's face went pale. She clutched her stomach and sank backward, collapsing limply into James's arms.
"Honey, I know you're good to me and the baby, but someone in this house clearly doesn't want us here. Maybe I should just leave."
James held Meryl securely in his arms. He didn't challenge me right away.
Instead, he put on the act of a dutiful son caught in the middle, carefully pleading with me to accept his wife and child.