No amount had ever counted as enough.

Every gift became proof that I could afford a larger one.

What finally changed was not my ability to understand that pattern.

It was my willingness to stop participating in it.

My pulse thudded in my ears.

“Spencer,” I said, turning the screen toward him, “what is this?”

He looked at the phone, and the color drained from his face.

“That’s not what you think it is.”