You did it because it saved you money, and because you were absolutely certain that Jessi — quiet, overlooked, disappointing Jessi — would never think to question it, never understand it, never use it.

You treated her voting shares the way you treated Jessi herself: as a thing that belonged to you, kept in her name for your benefit, of no independent consequence.”

He let that sit for a moment.

“As Jessi’s legal representative,” Julian said, “and as her husband, I executed her controlling voting rights this afternoon.”

My father’s mouth opened.

No sound came out of it.

I watched him do the arithmetic he had never once bothered to do, because doing it would have required taking me seriously — and I watched him arrive, far too late, at the total.