I Came Home After Four Years Working Abroad and Found My Wife Starving in Our Backyard—Then My Mother Asked About the Money I Hadn’t Told Her Was Fake

I know you think I am a monster.

I nearly stopped.

Then:

I told myself for years that the money belonged to the household because you sent it to me. Every time I used it for Godfrey or the house, I said I was building something for both my sons.

No mention of Phoebe.

Then:

When Phoebe got sick, I resented her. I thought she was going to consume everything you worked for and then die anyway. I was afraid there would be nothing left.

My hands shook.