Lucas eventually provided statements showing that part of the money had paid for urgent repairs at Agnes’s condo and part had covered personal expenses after her retirement savings ran low.

Several transfers lacked clear invoices, but the funds hadn’t vanished into some secret criminal scheme.

The problem was that he had decided to use our shared money without telling me.

When we discussed it, he looked miserable.

“Mom was embarrassed,” he said.

“She didn’t want you to know.”

“So you let me worry about paying for help after the birth while sending her money?”

“I thought I’d replace it with my commission.”