Now I knew he had understood every single transaction from the very beginning.

“Why did you stay quiet for six months?” I asked, my voice direct and precise.

“Because I was ashamed,” Ethan said, looking up at me.

“I didn’t have a job, I was living rent-free under my parents’ roof, and I felt like I had no right to challenge her.”

“So you let her take that shame out on me,” I said.

“I thought if I kept my head down until I found work, the fighting would blow over,” he said.